Fresh products and updates from the Rocky Mountain MIRECC

We are back in your inbox this month to share more updates and practical tools that you can apply in your own life or clinical practice.  

If you are a health care provider, be sure to check out the Clinician’s Corner! We've gathered some valuable tools and training specifically tailored for suicide risk assessment and management. We’ve got you covered with tips on patient risk stratification, insights on risk-benefit analysis, and examples of patient health record documentation. 

You’ll also find information about a helpful new website for Veterans, a new product, and an important awareness campaign for April.  

Wishing you the best, 

The Rocky Mountain MIRECC Team 

Did you know the Suicide Risk Management Program (SRM) provides free and easy-to-access virtual tools and trainings to help busy providers assess and manage suicide risk effectively?

The SRM Tools and Training webpage offers excellent resources on many topics related to suicide risk. Some examples include suicide risk assessment measures, lethal means safety counseling, and suicide risk stratification table (to inform your acute and chronic risk stratification). 

This month we highlight these resources for suicide risk clinical documentation best practices: 

• Boost your confidence in evaluating and documenting a Veteran’s suicide risk. SRM recommends documenting both acute and chronic risk levels. Find examples here: SRM Risk Stratification Documentation Examples 
• Experienced providers may be confident in their clinical decisions regarding risk and intervention but unsure about the best way to document it in the health record. SRM recommends documenting a risk-benefit analysis. Find examples here: SRM Risk Benefit Analysis Documentation Examples 

You can connect with an SRM consultant about risk documentation or any other suicide risk assessment, evaluation, management topics or suicide postvention by emailing SRMConsult@va.gov.

For the second year in a row, Dr. Deborah A. Yurgelun-Todd was named one of the Top Female Scientists in the U.S. by Research.com. The list is based on the number of peer reviewed publications and citations throughout the scientist’s career: 424 publications and 33,647 citations in her case. Congratulations Dr. Yurgelun-Todd! 

Dr. Yurgelun-Todd's research on Veteran suicide prevention includes the application of neuroimaging approaches and neurocognitive assessments.

Read more about Dr. Yurgelun-Todd's research, her experiences as a female scientist, and her advice for other women researchers in this VA Research Currents article. 

We have a new product available on our order form – the Treatment Works for Vets card. This card directs Veterans to Treatment Works for Vets, an online resource that introduces Veterans to Evidence-based Psychotherapies (EBPs).  

At Treatment Works, Veterans learn about proven treatments for  

• Depression 
• Sleep issues  
• Substance use 
• Chronic pain 
• Relationship distress  
• Suicide prevention 

Veterans choose their own path and are provided with options to locate their preferred treatment either through VA or in the community. Share this card with Veterans at appointments or events or keep a few in your wallet to direct Veterans to Treatment Works for Vets online. 

Order copies of this card at no cost through our order form. 

April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month. We want you to know that VA provides free services for Veterans and former Service members who experienced military sexual trauma (MST). VA offers personalized MST-related services so every survivor can find the treatment path that best supports them, no matter where they are in their healing journey or how long ago the MST occurred.  

Need more information about military sexual trauma? 

• Call the MST Coordinator at your local VA facility  
• Visit MentalHealth.va.gov/MST for more information on how VA can help 
• Order informational brochures at no cost: You’re Not Alone in Recovering from Military Sexual Trauma (available in English and Spanish)