Chapter 25: Mental health risk assessment: a personalised approach
1. What would be your key criteria for considering and selecting an appropriate specific risk assessment tool?
Answer: Relevance, ease of use, availability/copyright issues, purpose, reliability, validity, interpretation, need for training
2. What are some of the main characteristics of the individual's risk behaviour and experiences that you would wish to explore in clarifying their risk status – for example, frequency?
Answer: History, intent, recency, ideation, severity/impact, knowledge of the person, circumstances, triggers, emerging pattern
3. What are some of the key benefits of undertaking a collaborative formulation of risk?
Answer: Enables a consideration of the relevance of risk and protective factors; promotes an understanding of risk, in the context of the individual's situation and experience; enables a consideration of the challenges/obstacles to promoting change; acts as a bridge between assessment and care/risk management planning; provides direction for care & risk management planning
4. What are some of the key limitations of categorical summary ratings of an individual's risk status?
Answer: Provides very little information/lack of descriptive narrative, inconsistent use of categorical terms (low, medium, high), differences of opinion on what constitutes different levels of risk, time limited nature of a particular risk status, doesn't on its own provide useful information for risk management planning, categorical terms can stick/be used as labels
5. _____________ risk assessment involves the use of formal methods, protocols and procedures, based upon statistical predictions.
6. The __________ is a formulation method that considers the individual's vulnerability, trigger, maintaining and protective factors.
Answer: 4Ps or 5 Ps framework
7. What are some of the key recommended principles for practice in conducting risk assessment?
Answer: Collaborative, personalised / individualised, recovery focused, involving positive risk taking, communication.
