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01-08-2021 | Suicide | Original Paper

Continuity of Mental Health Care at Community Health Centers and Reduced Emergency Department Visits for Suicidal Ideation/Self-Harm

Authors: Abhery Das, Parvati Singh, Tim Bruckner

Published in: Community Mental Health Journal | Issue 6/2021

Abstract

We examined whether county-level increases in continuity of mental health care (i.e., mental health visits per mental health patient) at Community Health Centers (CHCs) correspond with a decline in Emergency Department (ED) visits for suicidal ideation and self-harm (1) overall, and (2) among specific race/ethnicities across 211 counties from 10 US states, from 2006 to 2015 (sample size = 1412 county-years). We used fixed effects linear regression analyses with county-level socioeconomic covariates and year indicators. In the full sample, continuity of mental health care at CHCs varies inversely with ED visits for suicidal ideation/self-harm (coefficient: −0.04, p < 0.1). Race-specific analyses show that a one unit increase in continuity of mental health care at CHCs corresponds with a 5% decline in ED visits for suicidal ideation/self-harm among whites (p < 0.05). Expansion of mental health care services at CHCs may serve as a key point of prevention for suicidal behavior.

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Title: Continuity of Mental Health Care at Community Health Centers and Reduced Emergency Department Visits for Suicidal Ideation/Self-Harm
Authors: Abhery Das
Parvati Singh
Tim Bruckner
Publication date: 01-08-2021
Publisher: Springer US
Keywords: Suicide
Suicide
Care
Published in: Community Mental Health Journal / Issue 6/2021
Print ISSN: 0010-3853
Electronic ISSN: 1573-2789
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00745-x

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Continuity of Mental Health Care at Community Health Centers and Reduced Emergency Department Visits for Suicidal Ideation/Self-Harm

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