brittmorthorst

The YAM project will be conducted in Danish schools.

DRISP and The Research Unit in the Child & Adolescent Mental Health Center have received a grant from The Novo Nordisk Foundation to test the school initiative Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) in Danish schools.

The project is a cross-sectoral collaboration between the Social and Healthcare Sectors to investigate whether insight and knowledge about mental health vulnerability and self-harm can be prevented among students in 9th grade in Danish schools.

The YAM intervention is a 5-week evidence-based program that encourages young people to learn about mental health well-being, encountering role play and discussions on topics related to their everyday mental health. The intervention is manual-based and will be facilitated by trained YAM Instructors.

Several schools have already expressed their interest in the project, which will be conducted as a cluster randomized feasibility study in 8-10 schools across the country. The aim is to investigate whether the intervention can be implemented in Danish schools on a larger scale.

We are looking very much forward to getting started.

Suicide rates in Nordic prisons 1999-2016

International research has shown an increased suicide rate among people in prison. However, studies have yet to address age structural differences. In this longitudinal the suicide rates among male prisoners is compared to the general population in three Nordic countries, Denmark, Iceland, and Norway, while adjusting for age differences.

Findings from the study shows that men in prison have a 7-fold higher suicide rate compared to the background population in Denmark, Iceland, and Norway and when accounting for age differences. For females, a rate 18-fold higher suicide rate was found among those in prison when compared to the general population. Over the 17-year study period, the suicide rate of people in prison decreased from 129 per 100,000 in 1999 to 70 per 100,000 in 2016. This decline was steeper that the decline observed for the suicide rate in the general population in the Nordic countries.

Link to study

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13811118.2020.1746943

DRISP: Britt Morthorst, Charlotte Mühlmann, Trine Madsen, Merete Nordentoft
og Annette Erlangsen

Partners

Lars Mehlum, Professor, National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, Institute of Clinical Medicine Oslo, Norway
Aiguröur Pàlsson, MD, Unit of Forensic Psychiatry, Iceland
Högni Óskarsson, md, Humus inc., Iceland Yngve Hammerlin, MD, Correctional Service of Norway Staff Academy, Norway

Clinical development project

The aim is to implement three questionnaires regarding protective and risk factors in suicide behavior in the treatment of children and adolescents. The implementation will contribute with a quality boost to the clinical work in the Suicide Prevention Clinic for children and adolescents by structured collecting and using tested scales to assess children and adolescents’ suicide risk, experience of mental stress as well as own strengths and weaknesses (resilience). The three scales that are to be used are: K10 (the experience of psychological stress), READ (resilience) and Columbia (the frequency and the intensity of suicide behavior). For the time being this is a clinical development project that may lead to a research project on a later stage.

DRISP: Britt Morthorst

Partners:

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in the Capital Region of Denmark
Center for Suicide Prevention, Region South Denmark

WHO-media guidelines

Media reporting of suicidal behavior can be beneficial as well as harmful. Dramatic and sensational descriptions may lead to increased suicidal behavior in the population while objective reporting with focus on where to seek help (hopeful stories) can be preventive. WHO has in collaboration with international experts developed a set of media guide lines with recommendations on how to present suicidal events in online as well as written media.

DRISP: Britt Morthorst

WHO-medieguidelines Download

Partners:

National Health Authorities in Denmark

Paracetamol-project (Danish Pack size restriction)

Paracetamol is reported to be the most frequently used drug for overdoses in European countries. An international concern has emerged and interventions, such as age and pack size restriction on non-opioid analgesics sold OTC in pharmacies, have been implemented.
The method applied was a nationwide register study investigating the trend in hospital admissions for non-opioid analgesic poisonings before and after the implementation of age and pack size restriction in Denmark in 2011 and 2013, respectively. The trend in rates of severe poisonings was also investigated using nationwide laboratory data as blood tests taken routinely during admission in the period 2011-2013. After the age and the pack size restriction we found significantly reduced numbers of non-opioid analgesics poisonings. Also, the number of severe poisonings treated in Danish hospitals decreased after the pack size restriction indicating reduced risk of liver injury.
We concluded that a significant reduction in trends of poisoning by non-opioid analgesics treated in hospitals and fewer severe poisonings was observed after the legislative changes in Denmark.

Link to the study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016503271932957X

The project in the media
Politiken

DRISP: Britt Morthorst

Partners:

Frank Eriksson, PhD, Associate Professor, Institute of Biostatistics, University of Copenhagen
Keith Hawton, Centre for Suicide Research, University of Oxford, United Kingdom

The AID-trial

The aim was to investigate the effect of assertive outreach focusing on problem-solving and escort to after-treatment compared to standard treatment in patients with a current suicide attempt measures as subsequent suicidal events within a year from index attempt. The study was an RCT (n=243) offering 8-10 home consolations in six months consisting of supportive consultations and escort to all kinds of after-treatment (e.g. GPs, alcohol units, somatic and psychiatric treatment and social services) in addition to safety planning, family support and crisis intervention. The study period was 207-2010. Results showed no difference in the repetition frequency between groups (17% equally). Also, there were no difference in the use of health care or social service use. The conclusion was that assertive outreach was not recommend compared to standard treatment in Denmark where standard treatment is already of high quality due to suicide preventions clinics.

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00700089

DRISP: Britt Morthorst

Partners:

Representatives with health care and social services in the Capital Region of Denmark.