Suicide Prevention Program for Veterans Discharged From Community Care Settings

NCT06139887 | Completed Results DMC

• 1 other identifier: 1701666
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 20
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this pilot randomized controlled trial is to test an adapted suicide prevention program (the Building VA Engagement, Self-efficacy, and Social Support To Prevent Suicide or BESST) in rural Veterans discharged from community care mental health treatment settings. The main question it aims to answer is:

• Does BESST combined with standard care improve suicide-related outcomes among this population compared to standard care alone? Participants will be assigned by change to a treatment group. Some will receive the BESST intervention combined with standard care, and some will receive standard care alone. All participants will be in this research study for up to three months. Those receiving the BESST intervention will have:
• 1 one-hour brief educational session;
• Seven follow-up check-ins (\~30 minutes each) All participants will have three assessment interviews where they will be asked about their mental health and treatment received outside of the VA. The investigators will compare participants assigned to the BESST intervention combined with standard care vs participants assigned to standard care alone to see if the BESST intervention improves suicide-related outcomes.

Conditions

Suicide Prevention

Keywords

Mental health education; Clinical trial; Suicidal ideation; Suicide, attempted

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Suicidal Ideation: The Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSS)

  The Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSS) ranges from 0-38. While there is no established BSS cutoff score to classify suicide risk, there is evidence that higher scores on the BSS correspond to more severe suicidal ideation and that a change of five points or more on the total BSS scores may be clinically relevant.

  3 months post-baseline

Secondary Outcomes (8)

• Hopelessness: Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS)

  3 months post-baseline

• Connectedness: Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire-15 (INQ-15) Perceived Burdensomeness

  3 months post-baseline

• Connectedness: Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire-15 (INQ-15) Thwarted Belongingness

  3 months post-baseline

• Patient Engagement: General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES)

  3 months post-baseline

• Patient Engagement: Suicide-Related Coping Scale (SRCS) External Coping Subscale

  3 months post-baseline

Study Arms (2)

BESST

EXPERIMENTAL

Patients randomized to the BESST intervention arm will receive the BESST intervention combined with standard mental health care.

Behavioral: BESST; Other: Standard Mental Health Care

Control

OTHER

Patients randomized to the control arm will receive standard mental health care alone.

Other: Standard Mental Health Care

Interventions

BESST BEHAVIORAL

The BESST intervention is a suicide prevention program designed to meet the unique needs of Veterans receiving care from community mental health treatment settings. BESST can be delivered by a trained mental health staff member, such as a mental health nurse, social worker, psychologist, or psychiatrist. The intervention consists of two synergistic components that work to support the patient after a mental health-related discharge in community settings: 1) Brief educational session, where the patient receives a one-hour, one-on-one, personalized educational session on suicide prevention; 2) Seven regular contacts after discharge, where the study interventionist who delivered the brief educational visit will contact the patient to monitor the patient's symptoms, assess treatment adherence, review their safety plan, and assist the patient with engaging in care, if needed.

BESST

Standard Mental Health Care OTHER

Patients randomized to the control arm will receive standard mental health care alone. Standard mental health care simply refers to the regular care provided to patients around the time of discharge from community care settings.

Also known as: Standard Care

BESST; Control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• The patient was recently discharged from a VA community care mental health treatment setting
• The patient is at risk for self-harm
• Be a patient connected to the White River Junction VA Medical Center (VAMC), the Togus VA Medical Center (VAMC), or the Manchester VA Medical Center (VAMC);
• Be a Veteran;
• Be 18 years or older;
• Be able to speak English;

You may not qualify if:

• Unable to provide informed consent;
• The investigators do not plan to enroll any potentially vulnerable populations including prisoners, institutionalized patients, or involuntarily committed patients;
• Study physician deems the patient not clinically appropriate

Sponsors & Collaborators

• White River Junction Veterans Affairs Medical Center: lead
• VHA Office of Rural Health: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

White River Junction VA Medical Center

White River Junction, Vermont, 05009, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Suicide Prevention; Suicidal Ideation; Suicide, Attempted

Interventions

Standard of Care

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Suicide; Self-Injurious Behavior; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Quality Indicators, Health Care; Quality of Health Care; Health Services Administration; Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Dr. Natalie Riblet
• Organization: White River Junction VA Medical Center

natalie.riblet@va.gov

1-802-295-9363

Study Officials

• Natalie Riblet, MD, MPH

  White River Junction VA Medical Center

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: No
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: The outcomes assessor will be blinded to treatment allocation and will remind the participant at each contact to not disclose their treatment status.
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: FED
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Participants are assigned to one of two groups in parallel: BESST plus standard care vs. standard care alone.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 14, 2023
• First Posted: November 18, 2023
• Study Start: October 1, 2023
• Primary Completion: April 17, 2025
• Study Completion: April 17, 2025
• Last Updated: September 5, 2025
• Results First Posted: August 22, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)