Smartphone App Enhanced Facilitation Among Veterans in a Mental Health Inpatient Setting (Project HOPE)

NCT06378541 | Recruiting DMC

• 1 other identifier: SDR 21-267
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 928
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study will test whether a novel intervention, Virtual Hope Box Enhanced Facilitation (VHB-EF), reduces suicide risk in Veterans after discharge from inpatient psychiatric hospitalization. Additionally, this study will also conduct interviews with Veterans and healthcare providers to explore barriers and facilitators to future adoption of the VHB-EF intervention in healthcare settings.

Conditions

Suicide Prevention; Suicide Attempt; Suicide Ideation

Keywords

smartphone application; suicide prevention; virtual hope box; veterans

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• 6 month Suicide Behaviors (measured by the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale [C-SSRS])

  Suicide behaviors will be measured by the C-SSRS and will be administered as a semi-structured interview. The definition of suicide behaviors for the primary outcome will consist of any actual suicide attempt or interrupted suicide attempt or aborted suicide attempt during the specified time period.

  6 months

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• 6 month Suicidal ideation (measured by the Scale for Suicidal Ideation [SSI]-Worst Point)

  6 months

Study Arms (2)

Virtual Hope Box Enhanced Facilitation (VHB-EF)

EXPERIMENTAL

The VHB-EF intervention has two phases: (1) The in-person inpatient phase involves a single, one-on-one, 60-minute session delivered by the study interventionist prior to hospital discharge. During this session, the interventionist will obtain access to the participant's personal phone and assist them in downloading the VHB app. The interventionist will provide education about the app and personalized behavioral practice for each component of the app. They will also address strategies to enhance app use. In addition, participants will review a list of Veteran mental health resources, community services, Veteran service organizations, and other Veteran social support services available to Veterans in the area. (2) The remote-delivery phase builds on the work begun in the hospital via 2 follow-up phone contacts within 14 days following discharge, during which the study interventionist will monitor risk, review/revise VHB content, and support app use and outpatient treatment engagement.

Behavioral: Virtual Hope Box Enhanced Facilitation

Enhanced Usual Care (EUC)

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

The EUC condition will involve a one-on-one, 30-minute session delivered by the study interventionist prior to hospital discharge, during which the interventionist will review Veteran mental health resources, community services, Veteran service organizations, and other Veteran social support services available to Veterans in the area. The EUC session will remain focused only on reviewing the standardized list of Veteran and community services; no counseling will be provided, and the list provided by the study interventionist does not include non-services (i.e., does not list any smartphone applications, including the VHB app).

Behavioral: Enhanced Usual Care

Interventions

Virtual Hope Box Enhanced Facilitation BEHAVIORAL

The VHB-EF intervention has two phases: (1) The in-person inpatient phase involves a single, one-on-one, 60-minute session delivered by the study interventionist prior to hospital discharge. During this session, the interventionist will obtain access to the participant's personal phone and assist them in downloading the VHB app. The interventionist will provide education about the app and personalized behavioral practice for each component of the app. They will also address strategies to enhance app use. In addition, participants will receive a list of Veteran mental health resources, community services, Veteran service organizations, and other Veteran social support services available to Veterans in the area. (2) The remote-delivery phase builds on the work begun in the hospital via 2 follow-up phone contacts within 14 days following discharge, during which the study interventionist will monitor risk, review/revise VHB content, and support app use and outpatient treatment engagement.

Also known as: VHB-EF

Virtual Hope Box Enhanced Facilitation (VHB-EF)

Enhanced Usual Care BEHAVIORAL

The EUC condition will involve a one-on-one, 30-minute session delivered prior to hospital discharge, during which the study interventionist will review a list of Veteran mental health resources, community services, Veteran service organizations, and other Veteran social support services available to Veterans in the area. The EUC session will remain focused only on reviewing the standardized list of Veteran and community services; no counseling will be provided, and the list provided by the study interventionist does not include non-services (i.e., does not list any smartphone applications, including the VHB app).

Also known as: EUC

Enhanced Usual Care (EUC)

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Those enrolled in the RCT component of this study must be:
• \) Veterans aged 18 or older
• \) admitted to the inpatient psychiatric unit for a recent suicidal crisis
• \) medically stable (the patient's medical and psychological fitness \[including aggression\] to provide informed consent will be determined by a member of the patient's treatment team)
• \) A score of 3 or greater on the Callahan 6-item cognitive screening.
• \) report current suicidal ideation (Scale for Suicidal Ideation \[SSI\]; sum of items 4 and 5 \> 0, referencing the week prior to their hospitalization) as reported during the screening interview
• \) no reported use of the VHB within the past 12-months
• \) access to a smartphone to download the VHB app

You may not qualify if:

• Veterans will be found ineligible for the program if:
• \) do not understand English
• \) are prisoners
• \) are unable to provide informed consent
• \) have profound psychotic symptoms and/or cognitive deficits that would prevent patients from understanding the content of the intervention and/or assessments
• \) to not have access to a smartphone

Sponsors & Collaborators

• VA Office of Research and Development: lead

Study Sites (1)

VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI

Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48105-2303, United States

RECRUITING

Related Publications (1)

• Gerner JL, Tucker RP, Moscardini EH, Bagge CL, Reger MA. The Virtual Hope Box mobile application: A systematic review of the literature. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2024 Jun;54(3):501-514. doi: 10.1111/sltb.13061. Epub 2024 Feb 21.

  PMID: 38380558 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Suicide Prevention; Suicide, Attempted

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Suicide; Self-Injurious Behavior; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Study Officials

• Courtney L Bagge, PhD MA

  VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Courtney L Bagge, PhD MA

CONTACT

(734) 845-3436; Courtney.Bagge@va.gov

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: FED
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 15, 2024
• First Posted: April 22, 2024
• Study Start: March 26, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 30, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): May 31, 2029
• Last Updated: February 9, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-02

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)