Children's Hospitals Today - Winter 2022 - 9

INNOVATION / ROUNDS
Making it personal
Staff send handwritten notes to behavioral health patients
following a visit to the emergency department.
F
or children's hospitals, having access
to the latest technology-especially
in emergency situations-can save lives.
But Children's Hospital & Medical Center in
Omaha, Nebraska, is improving outcomes
for emergency department (ED) patients
in suicidal crises with a low-tech solution:
handwritten follow-up notes. " This program
is reaching out and letting recently discharged
patients know they have someone
who's thinking about them, advocating for
them and supporting them, " says Zebulon
Timmons, M.D., division chief of pediatric
emergency medicine. " It lets these kids know
someone cares, and it helps them out of the
isolation that naturally happens with mental
health disorders-it's powerful. "
A positive impression
Children's Omaha launched Caring Contacts
last spring. One of the hospital's social workers,
Sabrina Schalley, shared an article citing
research showing lower suicide rates among
adults who received letters from providers
following a suicide attempt. It's believed to
be the first program of its kind for teens and
adolescents experiencing suicidal thoughts
or actions. The concept is straightforward:
Each patient, with a guardian's permission,
receives six handwritten notes over the year
following their ED visit from the social worker
who completed their assessment and assisted
in treatment planning.
Although Schalley and her team include
some standard language in the notes, each
is personalized specifically for the patient-
often referencing hobbies or interests
discussed during their hospital visit. For a
generation of teens and adolescents raised in
a digital age, this show of support takes on
added significance. " We have heard from some
of the adults in the kids' lives that they keep
all of the cards and put them in their drawer
or a special place, " says Schalley, LCSW, social
work manager. " We like the idea that it is a
tangible thing the kids can hold on to, and it's
not lost in their tech stream. "
The program's value
Research shows the follow-up notes, in conjunction
with ongoing treatment prescribed by
the patient's care team at discharge, are effective
in preventing future suicides in adults.
Children's Omaha is seeing similar results;
since the launch of Caring Contacts, Schalley
says she's not aware of any of her team's
patients committing suicide. Additionally, 17%
have experienced a repeat incidence of suicide
ideation-compared to a 27% rate of repeat
suicide attempts among teens and adolescents
nationally, according to a 2018 study.
Beyond the numbers, Schalley and her
team can see the program's effect from the
responses they receive from former patients.
" They tell us they felt heard, tell us about the
struggles they may be having and that they're
happy to continue working through it, " says
Trisha Graeve, LCSW, medical social worker.
" We've had patients tell us we saved their life. "
Tell your hospital's story. Email
magazine@childrenshospitals.org.
CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS TODAY Winter 2022
9
Children's Hospitals Today - Winter 2022

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