A Novel Peer-Delivered Recovery-Focused Suicide Prevention Intervention for Veterans With Serious Mental Illness

Conditions

• Bipolar Disorders
• Psychotic Disorders
• Suicidal Ideation
• Suicide, Attempted

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

18 Years - N/A

Healthy Volunteers

Not accepted

Interventions

• SUicide Prevention by Peers Offering Recovery Tactics — BEHAVIORAL
  Following the completion of a comprehensive mental health evaluation by a licensed VA provider, which includes a suicide safety plan, if a Veteran is having active thoughts of suicide or made a suicide attempt in past three months, they may be eligible for SUPPORT. In SUPPORT, the Peer Specialist and Veteran co-create a personalized suicide-focused recovery plan (SUPPORT Plan) in flexible, 50-minute weekly encounters. The SUPPORT Plan includes modules that focus on valuing recovery, building a hope kit and daily plan, setting recovery goals, and looking ahead to enhance the Veteran's safety plan. Learning strategies are incorporated into each module to promote salience and recall of intervention material. The Peer Specialist works closely with the Veteran's treatment team and uses the most recent safety plan in the Veteran's chart to help complete the SUPPORT Plan as well as reinforce the usage of the Veteran's safety plan.

Study Details

Suicide is a major public health concern, particularly among Veterans with serious mental illness (SMI, i.e., psychotic disorders or bipolar disorders). Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) is a well-established evidence-based practice for those with SMI that centers on identifying warning signs of mental illness, developing wellness tools for functional independence, planning for day-to-day effective living within one's community, and building an action plan to create a valued life worth living. This proposed study will refine and pilot SUicide Prevention by Peers Offering Recovery Tactics (SUPPORT), a novel integrated recovery program that is an adaptation of peer-delivered WRAP for Veterans with SMI. In SUPPORT, a Peer Specialist leads a Veteran at increased risk for suicide through recovery planning that is tailored to the Veteran's suicidal experiences with cognitive learning strategies to enhance safety plan recall and improve functioning.

Key Dates

Start date

Sep 12, 2023

Status verified

Aug 2025

Primary completion

Dec 15, 2026

Completion

Oct 31, 2027

Study Design

Enrollment

69 participants (estimated)

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Arms

• Experimental: SUPPORT
  Veterans receiving SUPPORT will be offered all modules of the intervention via weekly, 50-minute sessions with a Peer Specialist. Following the completion of a mental health evaluation by a licensed professional, the Peer Specialist leads the Veteran who is at risk for suicide through recovery planning that is tailored to the Veteran's suicidal experiences with cognitive learning strategies to enhance recall of the Veteran's safety plan and improve recovery.
• No Intervention: ESC
  The enhanced standard care (ESC) condition contains the elements of standard practice suicide prevention delivered at VHA, which include: 1) suicide risk assessment, 2) VA Safety Planning Intervention, 3) timely referral to VA mental health outpatient care, and 4) Suicide Prevention Coordinator follow-up contacts. It is enhanced due to the contact with the research study.

Primary Outcome Measure

Feasibility of recruitment and retention [ Time Frame: Through study completion, an average of 4 years ]

Central Contacts

• Samantha A Chalker, PhD
  (619) 680-1735
  [email protected]
• Colin A Depp, PhD
  (858) 822-4251
  [email protected]

Locations (1)

Find similar trials in San Diego, CA

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