The Components and Characteristics of Safety Management Plans Used to Reduce the Risk of Self Harm: A PRISMA Scoping Review

Figures & data

FIGURE 1. PRISMA flow chart of the study selection process.

TABLE 1. Characteristics of the included literature.

Characteristics	Number of Studies (n)
Type of Publication	Published article: 54, Grey literature: 20 Of Grey Literature: Safety Plan Template: 12, Presentation: 3, Smartphone App Print-Out: 2, Standard Operating Procedures: 1, Report: 1
Country	USA:46, UK: 8, Australia: 2, Denmark: 3, Ireland: 4, Singapore: 1, India, 1, Belgium: 1, Zambia: 1, Switzerland: 1, The Netherlands: 1, Scotland: 1, Unavailable, 4
Year of publication	2000–2010: 2, 2011–2015: 19, 2016–2020: 44, Unavailable: 9
Publishing organization	Journal Article: 56, National Health Service, UK (NHS): 3, Health Service Executive, Ireland (HSE), 2; Mental Health Charity: 7, Veterans Affairs Organization: 4, Governmental Organization: 2.
Setting	Clinical Setting Outpatient: 22, Clinical Setting Inpatient: 15, Emergency Department: 8, GP: 2, Community Setting/ Individual use: 13, Other: 4, Not Applicable: 10
Population	Adults: 18, Adolescents/Young Adults: 14, Veterans: 12, Adults AND Adolescents: 2, Active Duty Army Personnel: 6, Older Adults: 1, Refugees: 1, Adults/adolescents with autism: 1.
Method of safety management planning discussed	Discussion/paper based: 34, Discussion and Coping Card: 6, App based 11, to complete alone: 13, Phone/text based: 2, group based: 1, Computer based: 1.

TABLE 2. Characteristics of safety management planning.

	Academic literature(%)	Grey literature (%)	Total (%)
Safety Planning based on Stanley and Brown Intervention	40 (74.1%)	9 (45.0%)	52 (70.3%)
Mention of Client Involvement in Process	54 (100%)	20 (100%)	74 (100%)
Mention of Family Involvement (other than as part of step)	10 (18.5%)	4 (20.0%)	14 (19.0%)
Mention of Keeping Hard Copy	21 (38.8%)	16 (80.0%)	37 (68.5%)
Mention of Following up with Plan/Updating	7 (13.05%)	3 (15.0%)	10 (13.5%)

Percentages reflect total number of papers which contained reference to characteristics of safety management plans (Total N = 74, Academic literature n = 54, Grey literature n = 20).

TABLE 3. Components of safety management planning.

Components included	Academic literature (%)	Grey literature(%)	Total (%)
Warning signs	37 (92.5%)	15 (78.9%)	52 (88.1%)
Internal coping strategies	33 (82.5%)	16 (84.2%)	49 (83.1%)
External coping strategies	25 (62.5%)	13 (68.4%)	38 (64.4%)
Social contacts for assistance in resolving suicidal crisis	36 (90.0%)	19 (100.0%)	55 (93.2%)
Professional and agency contacts to assist in resolving suicidal crisis	38 (95.0%)	16 (84.2%)	54 ((91.5%)
Means restriction	21 (52.5%)	11 (57.8%)	32 (54.2%)
Reasons for living	9 (22.5%)	6 (31.6%)	15 (25.4%)
Hope box	5 (12.5%)	1 (5.3%)	6 (10.2%)

Percentages reflect total number of papers which contained reference to components of safety management plans (Total N = 59, Academic literature n = 40, Grey literature n = 19).