Issue 1 / Universal suicide screening, one huddle at a time
A 10-minute huddle drill on asking the four ASQ screening questions, a new NIMH-supported study on universal screening, SAMHSA's new STREETS awards, and October research from APA journals.
Welcome to the first full issue of the PsychReady weekly brief: one practical idea for hospital and clinic behavioral health teams, plus a short roundup of public updates from APA, SAMHSA, and NIMH.
This brief is for staff education and program planning. It is not clinical advice, and it does not replace accredited training, local policy, or professional judgment.
This week's training tip: a 10-minute screening huddle
Screening only works when every staff member can ask the questions out loud, without hedging, and knows exactly what happens after a "yes." Here is a drill you can run at the start of a shift.
- Read the questions aloud (2 minutes). Pull up the NIMH ASQ Toolkit and have one person read the four screening questions word for word. Point out that they are asked directly, using the word "suicide."
- Pair practice (4 minutes). In pairs, one person asks the questions and the other plays a patient who answers "yes" to one of them. Then switch. Coach each other on tone: calm, direct, and unhurried.
- Name the next step (3 minutes). As a group, say out loud who gets notified after a positive screen on your unit, how the patient is kept safe while waiting, and where the result is documented. If anyone is unsure, that is the gap to fix this week.
- Close the loop (1 minute). One person repeats the plan back. Write down any question the team couldn't answer and take it to your charge nurse or educator.
Want to go deeper? The Suicide/self-harm risk & safety planning module covers risk formulation, collaborative safety planning, means-safety counseling, and handoffs.
Research and guidance roundup
NIMH: universal screening finds more people at risk
A new brief report in Psychiatric Services, supported by the NIMH Intramural Research Program, looked at more than 5.2 million encounters in a safety-net health system. Suicide risk was identified in 0.7% of encounters before universal screening started and 3.5% after. The authors report that the largest relative increases were among older adults, Black patients, patients with charity or self-pay status, and outpatient encounters. Read the abstract: Universal Suicide Risk Screening in a Safety-Net Health System.
What it means on the floor: a screening program surfaces more patients who need a next step, so your escalation pathway needs to be ready for the volume. That is what the huddle above practices.
SAMHSA: new STREETS awards and nearly $250 million in grants
On October 2, HHS and SAMHSA announced eight communities selected for the new STREETS program, which provides $96 million over four years for street-based engagement, treatment, and recovery support for people experiencing homelessness with serious mental illness, substance use disorders, or both. Read the HHS announcement.
SAMHSA also announced nearly $250 million in grants for addiction treatment, overdose prevention, and mental health services, including Mental Health Awareness Training grants. See the SAMHSA press room for both releases.
APA: October journal issues
The American Psychiatric Association's October journal issues are out. Psychiatric Services includes pieces on a brief screener for mental disorders, substance use, and suicide risk, and on emergency psychiatric evaluation of people under arrest. The American Journal of Psychiatry has a special issue on neuromodulation. See the APA news releases.
On October 15, APA also submitted comments to the FDA supporting oversight of generative-AI medical devices, with evaluation focused on outcomes such as missed emergencies and unequal performance across patient groups. Read APA's comment letter (PDF).
What's new on PsychReady
- Newsletter archive. Every issue now lives on the web at the PsychReady newsletter archive, so you can share a drill with a colleague who isn't subscribed.
- Facility seats. Teams can now buy Facility Seat Access online. See PsychReady pricing.
- Modules. No new modules this week. All eight training modules are current.
PsychReady is independent and not endorsed by APA, SAMHSA, or NIMH. We summarize their public documents; we don't replace them.
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