Characteristics of Veterans Accessing the Veterans Affairs Telephone Triage Who Have Depression or Suicidal Ideation: Opportunities for Intervention

Authors

  • Alison Ludwig VA Office of Public Health Surveillance and Research; Epidemic Intelligence Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Cynthia Lucero-Obusan VA Office of Public Health Surveillance and Research
  • Patricia Schirmer VA Office of Public Health Surveillance and Research
  • Mark Holodniy VA Office of Public Health Surveillance and Research; Stanford University School of Medicine

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5210/ojphi.v5i1.4454

Abstract

Veterans accessing Veterans Affairs (VA) health care have more characteristics associated with suicide risk compared with the general U.S. population. Telephone triage is a national telephone-based system used to assess Veterans with acute medical or mental health complaints. We used a biosurveillance application to characterize Veterans who call telephone triage because of suicidal ideation or depression. >2,000 Veterans called during January-June 2012. Suicide prevention training should be prioritized for operators working during off-hours and weekends. Standard notification of clinical staff regarding calls to prevent loss to follow-up and investigation into increased call burden in identified geographic areas is recommended.

Author Biography

Alison Ludwig, VA Office of Public Health Surveillance and Research; Epidemic Intelligence Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Alison Ludwig, MD is an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted to the VA Office of Public Health Surveillance and Research. Her work has focused on outbreak investigations, sexually transmitted infection epidemiology and Veteran suicide risk assessment. Previously, Dr. Ludwig worked with Doctors Without Borders and as a research coordinator at U.C. San Francisco. She holds a B.A. from the U.C. Berkeley and a M.D. from Temple University School of Medicine.

Downloads

Published

2013-03-23

How to Cite

Ludwig, A., Lucero-Obusan, C., Schirmer, P., & Holodniy, M. (2013). Characteristics of Veterans Accessing the Veterans Affairs Telephone Triage Who Have Depression or Suicidal Ideation: Opportunities for Intervention. Online Journal of Public Health Informatics, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.5210/ojphi.v5i1.4454

Issue

Section

Poster Presentations