ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview and description of three commonly used measures used in primary care settings for suicide risk screening and assessment. It discusses strategies for effectively implementing these tools and their associated challenges. In primary care, the high-risk subgroup for whom suicide risk is most frequently conducted is patients who screen positive for depression, consistent with an indicated approach to suicide risk screening. In primary care, suicide risk screening and assessment very frequently occurs within the context of depression screening and/or treatment, such that patients with an established depression diagnosis and/or who screen positive for depression may also be explicitly screened for suicide risk. A limitation of suicide risk screening and assessment is an almost exclusive focus on suicide ideation. One theory of suicide that captures the dynamic, temporal nature of suicidal thoughts and behaviors is the fluid vulnerability theory. Suicide risk assessment protocols often ignore cultural differences, which may lead to improper management of patients.
