Oregon Zero Suicide Implementation Organizational Self-Assessment Report

This 2023 update to the 2018 Zero Suicide implementation assessment tool and the accompanying web survey is a collaboration of Portland State University’s Human Services Implementation Lab (iLab), the Oregon Health Authority, the Zero Suicide Institute and other contributors. The assessment was adapted from the Education Development Center’s Zero Suicide resources available at https://zerosuicide.org.

Content is drawn mainly from:

The General and Inpatient Self-Studies (https://zerosuicide.edc.org/resources/key-resources/organizational-self-study). Questionnaires about the extent to which each component of the Zero Suicide approach is in place at a single organization. Zero Suicide recommends completing this self-study at the start of an organization’s Zero Suicide initiative, then every 12 months after that as a measure of fidelity to the model. The self-study questions serve as the basis for this Oregon Zero Suicide Implementation Assessment and have been reformulated as indicators. The response options (or anchors) for each question are included in the grid to define the level of implementation for each indicator.

The Data Elements Worksheet (https://zerosuicide.edc.org/resources/resource-database/zero-suicide-data-elements-worksheet). A list of primary and supplemental measures recommended for behavioral health care organizations to strive for to maintain fidelity to a comprehensive suicide care model. The supplemental measures are clinically significant but may be much harder to measure than the primary measures. Zero Suicide recommends reviewing these data elements every three months in order to determine areas for improvement. Starting with element #3 (Identify) of this implementation assessment, these data points are requested for each relevant indicator as documentation for the rank awarded. Additional data points for indicators added to version 2 of this adaptation were developed by PSU.

OHA is using this implementation assessment to track change over time related to suicide prevention efforts among organizations participating in Zero Suicide Academies sponsored by OHA and the subsequent Zero Suicide Community of Practice Conference Calls.

For More Information On:

Zero Suicide

Visit https://zerosuicide.org

OHA’s Zero Suicide Initiative

Contact Megan Crane, OHA Zero Suicide Coordinator at meghan.crane@dhsoha.state.or.us

The study being conducted using this instrument

Contact Karen Cellarius, Director, Human Services Implementation Lab (https://hsimplementationlab.org), and Senior Research Associate, Portland State University Regional Research Institute for Human Services, at cellark@pdx.edu

Explanation of Elements

Zero Suicide's questionnaire is grouped under seven key elements: (1) Lead, (2) Train, (3) Identify, (4) Engage, (5) Treat, (6) Transition, and (7) Improve. Each standard has been rated on a scale for 1 to 5, where 1 equals “Organization has not yet demonstrated awareness for the need for this component of Zero Suicide” and 5 equals “Component is sustainably in place, monitoring for continuous quality improvement occurs regularly and includes input from people with lived experience.”