Name
Who Cares for the Caregivers? Suicide Prevention and Collective Responsibility in Behavioral and Medical Teams
Description

Suicide risk among healthcare professionals is an urgent but often unspoken crisis affecting both behavioral health and medical providers. This session explores how workplace culture, peer awareness, and interdisciplinary collaboration can create protective systems that support clinicians before crisis occurs. Participants will learn practical strategies to recognize warning signs in colleagues, initiate difficult conversations, and foster environments where seeking help is normalized. Through discussion and case examples, attendees will leave with actionable tools to strengthen a culture of shared responsibility for clinician wellbeing.

Speakers
Kirsten Infinger, LICSW
Content Level
All Audience
Tags
Self-care/Self-management, Suicide
Session Type
Concurrent
Objective 1
Identify key risk factors, warning signs, and systemic contributors associated with suicide among healthcare professionals across medical and behavioral health disciplines.
Objective 2
Describe practical strategies for recognizing distress in colleagues and initiating supportive conversations that address suicide risk within healthcare teams.
Objective 3
Discuss how interdisciplinary collaboration and psychologically safe workplace cultures can strengthen suicide prevention efforts and support clinician wellbeing.
Content Reference 1

Gold, K. J., Sen, A., & Schwenk, T. L. (2013). Details on suicide among US physicians: Data from the National Violent Death Reporting System. General Hospital Psychiatry, 35(1), 45–49.

Content Reference 2

Shanafelt, T. D., Dyrbye, L. N., & West, C. P. (2017). Addressing physician burnout: The way forward. JAMA, 317(9), 901–902.

Content Reference 3

West, C. P., Dyrbye, L. N., Erwin, P. J., & Shanafelt, T. D. (2016). Interventions to prevent and reduce physician burnout: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet, 388(10057), 2272–2281.

Content Reference 4

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. (2020). Physician and healthcare provider suicide prevention resources.

Content Reference 5

National Academy of Medicine. (2019). Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout: A Systems Approach to Professional Well-Being.