Adapting a Brief Suicide Intervention for Pediatric Primary Care: Enhancing Uptake and Impact

Adapting a Brief Suicide Intervention for Pediatric Primary Care: Enhancing Uptake and Impact

Suicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents in the United States and improving access to high quality just-in-time suicide interventions to reduce risk has important public health implications. Integrating such interventions into routinely accessed settings, such as pediatric primary care, holds promise; however, many clinicians in these settings fail to adequately screen or intervene in youth suicidal thoughts and behaviors, representing a key barrier to reducing suicide. The proposed study is a pre-post quasi-experimental pilot feasibility and preliminary efficacy trial of a suicide prevention intervention informed by evidence based interventions including the SAFETY-Acute suicide prevention intervention implemented in 3 pediatric primary care clinics.

This project aims to take an innovative, user-centered design approach to improve suicide prevention in primary care settings to support primary care management of adolescents with suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB), drawing on the evidence-based SAFETY-Acute (SAFETY-A; formerly known as Family Intervention for Suicide Prevention -aka FISP) intervention. In this trial, the investigators will conduct a pre-post quasi-experimental pilot feasibility and preliminary efficacy study of an adapted STB model of care compared to treatment as usual, with 3 primary care clinics. The trial will include 48 10-18-year-old patients with STB and their parents/caregivers. The investigators will assess acceptability and feasibility of the STB model of care, preliminary intervention impacts, and need for further adaptation.

Adolescent Inclusion Criteria:

• adolescent between the ages of 10 and 18 years old
• speaks fluent English
• current or recent suicide risk

Adolescent Exclusion Criteria:

• high suicide risk (in need of immediate crisis stabilization services such as inpatient medical or psychiatric hospitalization)
• does not speak fluent English
• does not have a primary care provider

Caregiver Inclusion Criteria:

• has a child who meets inclusion criteria
• Age 18 years or older

Caregiver Exclusion Criteria:

• does not have a child who meets inclusion criteria
• does not speak English

Provider Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 18 years or older
• works in primary care/outpatient healthcare setting