A Health System/Community Partnership for Enhanced Outreach to Prevent Suicide Attempts

Summary

The goal of this study is to test an enhanced outreach intervention (EOI) delivered by Samaritans of Boston (a community organization that provides support during mental health crises) for people after they leave an emergency department (ED) visit for suicidal thoughts. The main questions it aims to answer are:

* Does the EOI reduce suicide-related behaviors?
* Does the EOI increase outpatient treatment attendance?
* Is the EOI acceptable and feasible?
* Can the EOI be delivered with fidelity by Samaritans?

Participants will be randomized to the EOI plus care as usual or care as usual alone. Participants in the EOI plus care as usual group will:

* Receive outreach (by call or text) at a planned time once per week for the next 12 weeks. During these conversations, Samaritans staff will ask participants questions about their suicidal thoughts and behaviors, develop and review a list of coping skills to use if they have suicidal thoughts, and discuss plans for receiving mental health care.
* Receive caring messages from Samaritans staff at least once per week.
* Receive standard care that hospitals give for patients who present with suicidal thoughts.
* Be asked to complete monthly self-report questionnaires.

For care as usual alone, participants will:

* Receive standard care that hospitals give for patients who present with suicidal thoughts.
* Be asked to complete monthly self-report questionnaires.

Conditions

• Suicide
• Suicide, Attempted
• Suicidal Ideation

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Enhanced Outreach Intervention (EOI) plus Care as Usual (CAU)

The EOI will contain four main components: safety planning, caring contacts, care engagement, and risk assessment. Outreach (via phone or text messaging) from Samaritans staff will be conducted every week of the 12 week intervention. Conversations will use a standardized phone script to (a) conduct a risk assessment, (b) develop and review a list of coping skills to use if the participant has suicidal thoughts, and (c) discuss plans for receiving mental health care. Samaritans staff will also send a caring text message or email at least once per week. Participants will also receive standard care that hospitals provide to patients who present with suicidal thoughts.

OTHER

Care as Usual (CAU)

Participants will receive standard care that hospitals provide to patients who present with suicidal thoughts.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)

  collaborator NIH

• Samaritans of Boston

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Massachusetts General Hospital

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jordan Smoller, MD, ScD · Massachusetts General Hospital

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-06-30

Primary Completion

2027-11-30

Completion

2027-11-30