Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T03:26:48.295Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Child-Sized Gaps in the System: Case Studies of Child Suicidality and Support Within the Australian Healthcare System

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2016

Kathy McKay Open the ORCID record for Kathy McKay [Opens in a new window]  and
Fiona Shand
Kathy McKay*
Affiliation:
University of New England, Australia
Fiona Shand
Affiliation:
Black Dog Institute, Australia Centre for Research Excellence in Suicide Prevention, Australia Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Kathy McKay, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2350, Australia. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

While children both understand the concept of, and have died by, suicide, little research has been conducted on children's experiences of healthcare systems during and after a suicidal crisis. This article focuses on three case studies of mothers with suicidal daughters and aims to describe the health service experiences of parents whose children have attempted suicide. The case studies were selected as exemplars of three different healthcare experiences of mothers with suicidal daughters younger than 16 years of age. Interviews were conducted with the mothers, focusing on their experiences when trying to find care for their daughters after a suicide attempt. A ‘dirty text’ analysis was undertaken on the transcripts, which aimed to find potential redemption within stories of trauma. Narratives were analysed to see how their stories were told, but also how experiences could be shared or be dissimilar. Significant gaps currently exist in the care and support provided to suicidal children, particularly in the critical post-discharge phase. Adults were not always able to recognise when a child was suicidal, or sometimes take that suicidality seriously. Support must often be proactively sought, and even organisations that are meant to target children and adolescents may not always provide appropriate care.

Keywords

child suicidechild attempted suicidecare after suicidesuicide preventionAustralian healthcarestigma
Type
Articles
Information
The Educational and Developmental Psychologist , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , December 2016 , pp. 139 - 148
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society Ltd 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bolger, S., O'Connor, P., Malone, K., & Fitzpatrick, C. (2004). Adolescents with suicidal behaviour: Attendance at A&E and six month follow-up. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine, 21, 78–84. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0790966700008405 Google Scholar
Carrigan, J.T. (1994). The psychosocial needs of patients who have attempted suicide by overdose. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 20, 635–642.Google Scholar
Freuchen, A., Kjelsberg, E., Lundervold, A.J., & Grøholt, B. (2012). Differences between children and adolescents who commit suicide and their peers: A psychological autopsy of suicide victims compared to accident victims and a community sample. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 6, 1–12.Google Scholar
Meehan, J., Kapur, N., Hunt, I.M., Turnbull, P., Robinson, J., Bickley, H., . . . Appleby, L. (2006). Suicide in mental health in-patients and within 3 months of discharge. National clinical survey. British Journal of Psychiatry, 188, 129–134.Google Scholar
Mishara, B.L. (1999). Conceptions of death and suicide in children ages 6–12 and their implications for suicide prevention. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 29, 105–118.Google Scholar
Samuelsson, M., Wiklander, M., Asberg, M., & Saveman, B.I. (2000) Psychiatric care as seen by the attempted suicide patient. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 32, 63–643.Google Scholar
Shand, F.L., Christensen, H., Pirkis, J., Spittal, M., Batterham, P., Woodward, A., Tighe, J., & McKay, K. (2015). Care after a suicide attempt report. Sydney, Australia: National Mental Health Commission.Google Scholar
Soole, R., Kõlves, K., & De Leo, D. (2014a). Suicide in children: A systematic review. Archives of Suicide Research, 19, 285–304. doi:10.1080/13811118.2014.996694 Google Scholar
Soole, R., Kõlves, K., & De Leo, D. (2014b). Factors related to childhood suicides: Analysis of the Queensland Child Death Register. Crisis, 35, 292–300. doi:10.1027/0227-5910/a000267.Google Scholar
Tamas, S. (2011). Biting the tongue that speaks you: (Re)writing survivor narratives. International Review of Qualitative Research, 4, 431–460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, T. L., Hawton, K., Fortune, S., & Kapur, N. (2009) Attitudes towards clinical services among people who self-harm: systematic review. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 194, 104–110. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.107.046425 Google Scholar
Tishler, C.L., Reiss, N.S., & Rhodes, A.R. (2007). Suicidal behaviour in children younger than twelve: A diagnostic challenge for emergency department personnel. Academic Emergency Medicine, 14, 810–818.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed