IH enhances suicide prevention with new ED guidelines, resources

July 18, 2025

A research team from UBC Okanagan collaborated with IH to gather suicide screening data in IH's emergency departments. From L to R: Lisa Hobenshield, UBCO research lead Dr. Lesley Lutes, Amy Luff, graduate students Aidan O'Callahan & Kristen Zentner

New guidelines for emergency departments (EDs) for recognizing and supporting people at risk of suicide have already increased rates of suicide screening and are expected to save lives.

In 2020, suicide screening in EDs was added as a requirement by Accreditation Canada, a national organization that assesses health-care services and programs.

Interior Health (IH) collaborated with the Canadian Mental Health Association BC and UBC Okanagan (UBCO) to do an in-depth study in the region’s EDs. Led by Dr. Lesley Lutes, along with a team of graduate students, and supported by IH Emergency Services Network regional education coordinator Amy Luff, the UBCO researchers evaluated suicide screening within IH EDs. This included reviewing charts and receiving feedback from both frontline providers and patients.

Findings indicated that suicide screening was being done in EDs less than 10 per cent of the time.

“I have been working in emergency nursing for more than 20 years,” says IH Emergency Services Network director Lisa Hobenshield. “Generally, we are comfortable in a trauma room or resuscitating patients. Having a therapeutic conversation about somebody’s mental health or their substance use is challenging in an emergency setting.

“Yet, the emergency department is where people come to get help,” she continues. “We look at this collaboration as an opportunity to try and change the culture, reduce stigma and help people where they are at.”

In this Story…

New framework aims to save more lives

Providing consistent, equitable care across the region

Empowering frontline workers to have vital conversations

Get help today

New framework aims to save more lives

On May 15, 2025, the BC Government announced a province-wide suicide prevention framework to help health-care workers care for people at risk of suicide.

The framework was developed in partnership with the Canadian Mental Health Association BC with contributions from IH.

“The partnership was relatively unique, and it was really the collaboration that gave it strength,” says Dr. Aron Zuidhof, IH’s former medical director of the Emergency Services Network. “Having Minister Josie Osborne step in to announce the endorsement of the framework positions this work and this collaboration in a good place to help continue to move the needle on suicide care in our EDs across the health authority.”

A smiling person with curly brown hair wearing blue medical clothes stands in a hallway in a hospital. — Dr. Aron Zuidhof

Providing consistent, equitable care across the region

Part of the ongoing work includes having tools and resources consistently available to health-care teams working in EDs across IH. One such resource is a referral process that will be tailored to each patient’s circumstances and needs.

“If a person requires admission to the hospital that may call for an urgent follow-up, this can include facilitating family and friend support, and rapid community mental health follow-up, either in person or virtual,” explains Dr. Zuidhof. “One of the key things to that is making sure that those resources and the process map are well laid out, and are consistent, reliable and equitable. This allows more rural places to have equitable access compared to a larger place like Kelowna.”

Two people in business attire wearing lanyards stand next to a sign with the initials ENABC in a hotel conference room. — Amy Luff (L) and Maria Weaver, associate director, Suicide Prevention & Life Promotion, CMHA–BC, presented at the Emergency Nurses Association of BC (ENABC) conference in 2024.

Empowering frontline workers to have vital conversations

Since this work began, suicide screening has improved across IH EDs with the rate of screening having increased to approximately 30 per cent. The goal moving forward is to continue to enhance the capabilities of frontline workers across IH and to see suicide screening being implemented consistently.

“We don’t have to be experts in mental health, but we do have a role to play and that might be to just ask somebody how they are doing. If they say they have been having thoughts of harming themselves, we may not know the perfect answer ourselves, but we can connect them to the experts,” Lisa says.

A round of patient and provider surveys was recently completed by IH, UBCO and CMHA BC. A further evaluation is set to take place in fall 2025.

Two people stand at a podium present in a conference hall. — Amy Luff (L), network education coordinator for IH Emergency Services Network, and Matt Treble, manager, Suicide Prevention and Life Promotion, CMHA-BC, present at a National Emergency Nurses Association (NENA) conference in 2024.

“There’s a sense of pride and appreciation in seeing all the different people working together to try and make even small improvements,” shares Lisa. “Building relationships, fostering connections and learning together are at the heart of ongoing quality improvement and have laid the groundwork for this project and ones that will follow.”

Get help today

Call 310-MHSU (6478) to reach your local Mental Health and Substance Use Centre for support in your community.

If you’re experiencing feelings of hopelessness or thoughts of self-harm, you can call one of these numbers. These services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including holidays: