Evaluation of a Social Work Service for Self-Poisoning Patients

Abstract

Four hundred patients aged at least 17 who came to Casualty in one year after deliberately poisoning themselves were randomly assigned between an Experimental social work service (task-centered casework) and a Control (routine) follow-up service. 139 patients were excluded from the trial, most of whom were already in continuing psychiatric treatment. After one year there was no difference in the proportions of E and C patients who repeated self-poisoning (about 14 per cent), but significantly more of the excluded group had repeated (36 per cent). A random half of the trial patients were re-interviewed four months after admission. Both E and C groups had improved to a significant extent on measures of depressed mood and of social problems. E patients showed more change in social problems and were more satisfied with the service they had received.

Psychosocial interventions following self-harm in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…For information on the effectiveness of the remaining interventions not covered in this report the reader is instead referred to our review in the Cochrane Library. 13 A total of 29 trials were therefore included in the present review (Figure 1; Supplementary Document SD3), comprising 18 trials of cognitive behavioural-based psychotherapy (CBT), [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] three trials of dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), [36][37][38] and four trials each of case management [39][40][41][42] and postcards. [43][44][45][46] (Insert Figure 1 about here)…”

“…[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] Data on the proportion of patients repeating self-harm by the end of treatment was only available for one trial, 27 in which there was no apparent effect (23/171 vs. 27/142, OR 0·66, 95% CI 0·36 to 1·21, N=313). However, CBT-based therapy was associated with fewer participants repeating self-harm at the six month (OR 0·54, 95% CI 0·34 to 0·85, N=1,317; Figure 2) and 12 month follow-up assessments (OR 0·80, 95% CI 0·65 to 0·98, N=2,232; Figure 2).…”

The efficacy of problem-solving treatments after deliberate self-harm: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials with respect to depression, hopelessness and improvement in problems

“…In three of the trials the descriptions of treatment were very similar (Patsiokas & Clum, 1985 ;Salkovskis et al 1990). In Gibbons et al (1978) the treatment (task-centred casework) focused on working on a single key problem. In McLeavey et al (1994) particular attention was paid to improving problem-solving skills in general as well as tackling current problems.…”

“…These commonly include interpersonal difficulties (especi-ally with partners and family members), unemployment, financial and housing problems and social isolation (Paykel et al 1975 ;Gibbons et al 1978 ;Hawton et al 1997 ;Williams & Pollock, 2000).…”

Parasuicide: features of repetition and the implications for intervention

“…Other studies have found that treatment by medical or non-medical personnel lasting around three months may lead to improvement in social adjustment (Chowdhury et al 1973;Hawton et al 1981), social problems (Gibbons et al 1978) or mood (Hawton et al 1981), but that no available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291700038800 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core.…”