Pilot Study of a Brief Intervention for Medically Hospitalized Suicide Attempt Survivors

Pilot Study of a Brief Intervention for Medically Hospitalized Suicide Attempt Survivors

The current study proposes to study the feasibility and acceptability of a brief psychosocial intervention delivered to suicide attempt survivors hospitalized on a medical/surgical floor or inpatient psychiatry unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The proposed study will involve training of care providers affiliated with Vanderbilt University Medical Center to deliver the brief intervention. Additionally, the participants will complete baseline, 1, 3, and 12-month assessments on outcomes of interest, including readiness to change problematic behaviors, engagement in outpatient mental health services, suicidal ideation, self-harming behavior, and reasons for living.

One-hundred participants will be recruited from a medical/surgical floor or inpatient psychiatry unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The PI, other Attending Psychiatrists, Psychiatry Resident Physicians, Clinical Psychology Trainees, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners, Psychiatric Social Workers, and Psychiatric Nurse Case Managers will serve as study therapists. A member from the Vanderbilt University research team will obtain informed consent for the participants and then administer the baseline assessment battery. Patients will then be randomized to either (1) a group receiving care as usual plus an experimental intervention targeting suicidal thoughts and behaviors or to (2) a group receiving care as usual. Patients randomized to the experimental group will receive the intervention prior to discharge from the medical center, most likely on the same day as the baseline assessment battery. Patients receiving the experimental intervention will then be asked to complete a brief post-intervention client satisfaction survey. All study participants will then complete telephone follow-up assessments at 1, 3, and 12 months. The intervention will consist of no more than 90 minutes of 1:1 interaction with a study clinician. The baseline assessment battery will take approximately 30 minutes, the post-intervention measures will take approximately 10 minutes, and the 1-, 3-, and 12-month assessment batteries will take approximately 30 minutes. Maximum length of time in the study is approximately 3.75 hours.

Inclusion Criteria:

• 18 years of age and above
• Inpatient on medical/surgical unit either currently or prior to transfer to inpatient psychiatric unit
• Admitted following a suicide attempt
• Sufficient English to benefit from psychotherapy in English
• Consents to be a research participant

Exclusion Criteria:

• Lack of sufficient English to participate in psychotherapy in English
• Prisoner/inmate at time of admission
• Too cognitively impaired, delirious, or psychotic to respond to psychotherapeutic intervention before end of stay in the medical center. Determination of cognitive impairment, delirium, agitation, and psychosis will be determined through the referral phone call between discussions with research team members and the Adult Psychiatry Consultation Service Physician providing care to the patient, as well as the interventionist's own clinical assessment of the patient at the outset of the brief intervention.