NCT01473771

Caring Letters for Military Suicide Prevention

Caring Letters for Military Suicide Prevention: A Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 1,319 (actual)
• Sponsor: National Center for Telehealth and Technology · Federal
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of this multi-site randomized controlled trial is to determine if the Caring Letters intervention is effective in preventing suicide and suicidal behaviors among U.S. Service Members and Veterans. The primary aim of this project is determine whether caring communications following inpatient psychiatric treatment reduce suicide and self-inflicted injuries among U.S. military personnel and Veterans. The investigators will also explore treatment utilization by comparing the frequency of treatment visits after enrollment into the study. The following specific hypotheses will be tested: Hypothesis 1: During a two year follow-up after the index hospital discharge, the frequency of suicide will be lower among participants in the Caring Letters group compared to those in the Usual Care group. Hypothesis 2: The frequency of medically admitted self-inflicted injuries will also be lower in the Caring Letters group compared to the Usual Care group. Hypothesis 3: The time to suicidal act, among those who do subsequently exhibit one, will be longer among participants in the Caring Letters group compared to the Usual Care group.

Detailed description

This social/ behavioral study is a five year multi-site randomized controlled trial that will compare the Caring Letters intervention (with usual care) to usual care without the caring letters. Participants will be recruited from inpatient psychiatry units of collaborating military and Veterans Affairs (VA) sites and randomized to either a group that receives letters (Caring Letters group) or a group that does not receive letters (Usual Care group). The methodology of the intervention is updated with emails instead of postal letters. This study fills an important gap in the evidence base for the Caring Letter intervention through a methodologically rigorous research design.

Conditions

• Suicide
• Suicide, Attempted

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Caring Letter (email)	Participants will be emailed "letters" for two years. The first letter will be sent one week afer discharge from the inpatient psychiatric unit. There will be four subsequent email letters sent every month starting from the day of discharge, then another four every two months. The last four email letters will be sent every three months for the remainder of the two year period.

Timeline

• Start date: 2011-11-01
• Primary completion: 2018-08-01
• Completion: 2018-08-01
• First posted: 2011-11-17
• Last updated: 2018-08-23

Locations

6 sites across 2 countries: United States, Germany