Mental Health Risk Assessment Checklist

Conducting a risk assessment for a person with a mental illness is an extremely important part of psychiatric practice, particularly if they are causing significant harm to themselves or others.

Assessing and carefully managing their state is integral to providing safe and effective care and making good decisions regarding their treatment.

In short, protecting patients and others from harm is a key priority and performing a mental health risk assessment is an essential component of providing such protection.

This checklist will guide you through all of the critical aspects of mental health issues, providing the tools to gather important data and accurately assess what needs to be done in order to help get the patient and their life back on track.

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Ask the patient if they have a history of self-harm. 

If there is information the patient discloses (beyond a simple yes/no answer) that you think is appropriate to record, you can do so in the text form field below

Ask the patient if their family has a history of suicide or self-harm.

Determine if the patient has hinted to any kind of desire to commit suicide.

If they have, record their response below.

Gaining a good understanding of the patient's background is, of course, an essential component of a mental health risk assessment.

One of the most critical things to learn is if the patient has experienced any recent life events that have been particularly difficult to deal with. 

During the assessment, is it clear that the patient is in a high level of distress?

Ask the patient if they are currently suffering from any kind of physical illness or disability. If they are, note down the details below

Ask the patient if they currently live alone (or if they will be living alone once discharged from the healthcare facility).

Do you think the patient currently has the potential to commit a violent act, whether it be towards himself or others? 

Use this section to note down any additional thoughts you have or observations you have made regarding the patient's current status

Explore the patient's background to determine whether or not they have a history of violence.

Whilst you could just ask the question outright, this may disgruntle the patient and/or result in a false response.

Abuse of all kinds during childhood is a massive contributing factor to mental health problems.

Through gentle questioning, learn if the patient has witnessed any physical and/or emotional abuse during their childhood

Now learn if the patient has actually experienced physical and/or emotional abuse during their childhood.

Ask the patient if they have ever harmed another person for whatever reason.

Use this section to note down any other thoughts you have or observations you made related to the patient's history. 

Are there any details not pertaining to a particular question in the section but you think is appropriate in the context of the risk assessment?

Ask the patient for details regarding their living situation and determine whether or not these conditions are acceptable.

Determine if the patient has poor hygiene, which is a clear sign that they are not taking proper care of themselves. 

Perhaps they have verbally expressed poor hygiene practices or it is apparent from their appearance and scent.

Ask the patient if they are currently suffering from any physical pain or have physical health needs that could be addressed.

Use this section to note down any other observations you made regarding the patient's self-neglect. 

Select the kinds of abuse from the options below that the patient is currently, or was previously at risk of experiencing. 

Analyze all of the information you have gathered during the assessment and determine what the overall likelihood is that the patient will cause self-harm and/or harm to others. 

All things considered, determine an overall risk rating for {{form.Patient_first_name}}

To conclude, summarize the degree of risk you believe {{form.Patient_first_name}} poses to themselves and others. 

Secondly, summarize what your recommendations are for the patient moving forward. 

• Safety Culture - Mental Health Risk Assessment Form Checklist
• HSE - Risk Management in Mental Health Services
• BMJ Journals - Evidence-Based Mental Health Risk Assessment
• Australian Family Physician - Mental Health Risk Assessment
• Royal College of Psychiatrists - Assessing and Managing Risk of Patients Causing Harm 
• Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership - The Assessment in Clinical Risk in Mental Health Services

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