Feasibility of applying Attempted Suicide Short Intervention Program (ASSIP) in Lithuania: Patients’ perspective

Given the higher risk of subsequent suicide attempts and deaths by suicide, various healthcare approaches after suicide attempt are implemented. However, most interventions are designed and effectiveness studies are conducted in countries with low suicide rates and well-developed healthcare systems. Thus, it is not clear whether they are appropriate, positively assessed by patients in countries other than those in which they were developed – where suicide rates are high, the healthcare system is less developed and medicalized, and suicide stigma prevails. This study, combining quantitative and qualitative data analysis strategies, aimed to evaluate the feasibility of applying Attempted Suicide Short Intervention Program (ASSIP) in Lithuania from the perspective of patients. The study included 19 participants (12 women and 7 men; mean age 29.8 years) after a recent suicide attempt: 8 received treatment as usual (TAU) in a psychiatric hospital, 11 received the ASSIP program in addition to TAU. The results revealed that the psychological state of all patients improved after treatment – the assessments of psychological well-being became higher and depressiveness decreased. But the intensity of suicidal ideation and overall suicidality decreased only in the ASSIP group. Various aspects of TAU have been assessed ambiguously or negatively, and feedback on the ASSIP program has been purely positive. Thus, ASSIP is a feasible complementary intervention that appropriately responds to patients’ needs for collaborative, empathic, suicide-specific care