Assured

People who self-harm or have suicidal thoughts are increasingly presenting to Emergency Departments (EDs), and are at increased risk of suicide. A psychosocial assessment in EDs is recommended, but many people need further support – often unavailable due to limited resources.

We designed a rapid, solution-focused intervention for follow-up care that engages with people soon after they attend EDs. We are assessing the effectiveness by recruiting 620 people to an RCT comparing the intervention to usual care.

We will investigate whether ASSURED reduces mental health reattendance at EDs, and improves other wellbeing outcomes.

We have trained around 100 NHS mental health practitioners and developed comprehensive online training.

We are actively sharing our progress with participating and other NHS Trusts, will publish our findings in journals and present at international conferences, and are developing policy briefs and media interaction with the intention that hope ASSURED saves lives and becomes integrated in the NHS.

City University of London

Devon Partnership NHS Trust

University of Manchester

University of Exeter

Queen Mary University of London

University of Plymouth

Kings College London

Binary Vision

University of Warwick