SURVEY- Suicidal ideation in OH consultations

The results of an online Tea-breaker survey

Summary:

The journal’s April Tea-breaker poll asked OH professionals how frequently workers raise suicidal thoughts in their OH consultations and, if so, how often work or work relationships are thought to be a factor. John Ballard discusses the findings.

The vast majority (98%) of OH professionals report that suicidal thoughts (suicidal ideation) are raised by workers at least sometimes in their OH consultations, with nearly one-third (32%) of practitioners saying that this is a common occurrence. On those occasions where workers discuss having suicidal thoughts, nearly six in 10 respondents (59%) say the worker either occasionally (51%) or often (8%) attributes some or all of those thoughts to work or work relationships. Most OH professionals (84%) say they feel confident in how to respond when a worker says that they are having suicidal thoughts, and 93% say they know which local support services they can refer individuals to for specialist support…

 

Dr John Ballard is editor of Occupational Health [at Work]

Author: Ballard J

Tags suicide

Occupational Health at Work June/July 2024 (vol. 21/1) pp19-25

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