Applicant's prior U.S. Pat. No. 7,024,823 discloses an effective suicide prevention device comprising a trapazoidally-shaped panel having two vertical sides, and an upper, slanted surface connecting the two vertical sides which is preferably at an acute angle to the longer of the two vertical sides so as to reduce or eliminate the physical means for a patient to hang him/herself. The bottom surface of the panel is also spaced from the floor. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,024,823, this device effectively reduces or prevents patients who are at risk for committing suicide from accomplishing such an act. However, the device of Applicant's prior patent does require a certain loss of privacy because of the opening above the top surface of the panel. This loss of privacy is particularly troublesome for patients because such panels are often used as bathroom doors.
Thus, although some degree of privacy was provided by the device of Applicant's previous patent, a need remained for a device that would provide increased privacy for a patient.