Caring letters sent by a clinician or peer to at-risk veterans: A randomized clinical trial
APA Citation:
Reger, M. A., Legler, A., Lauver, M., Tenso, K., Manchester, C., Griffin, C., Strombotne, K. L., Landes, S. J., Porter, S., Bourgeois, J. E., & Garrido, M. M. (2024). Caring letters sent by a clinician or peer to at-risk veterans: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open, 7(4), Article e248064. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.8064
Focus:
Veterans
Mental health
Programming
Branch of Service:
Multiple branches
Military Affiliation:
Veteran
Subject Affiliation:
Veteran
Population:
Adulthood (18 yrs & older)
Middle age (40 - 64 yrs)
Methodology:
Quantitative Study
Authors:
Reger, Mark A., Legler, Aaron, Lauver, MaryGrace, Tenso, Kertu, Manchester, Caitlin, Griffin, Cameron, Strombotne, Kiersten L., Landes, Sara J., Porter, Shelan, Bourgeois, Jolie E., Garrido, Melissa M.
Abstract:
Caring letters is an evidence-based suicide prevention intervention in acute care settings, but its outcomes among individuals who contact a national crisis line have not previously been evaluated.To examine the outcomes of the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) caring letters intervention and determine whether there are differences in outcomes by signatory.This parallel randomized clinical trial compared signatories of caring letters and used an observational design to compare no receipt of caring letters with any caring letters receipt. Participants included veterans who contacted the VCL. Enrollment occurred between June 11, 2020, and June 10, 2021, with 1 year of follow-up. Analyses were completed between July 2022 and August 2023.Veterans were randomized to receive 9 caring letters for 1 year from either a clinician or peer veteran signatory.The primary outcome measure was suicide attempt incidence in the 12 months following the index VCL contact. Incidence of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) inpatient, outpatient, and emergency health care use were secondary outcomes. All-cause mortality was an exploratory outcome. Wilcoxon rank-sum tests and
Publication Type:
Article
Keywords:
caring letters, suicide prevention, prevention program