Increasing Treatment Seeking Among Suicidal Veterans Calling the Crisis Line

NCT ID: NCT01771965

Last Updated: 2017-07-26

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 19 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2014-10-31
• Study Completion Date: 2016-01-31

Brief Summary

The goal of this research plan is to test the effectiveness of a brief, cognitive behavioral (CB) intervention to promote behavioral health treatment engagement among at-risk Veterans who call the Crisis Line but are resistant to behavioral health services.

Detailed Description

The goal of this research plan is to test the effectiveness of a brief, cognitive behavioral (CB) intervention to promote behavioral health treatment engagement among at-risk Veterans who call the Crisis Line but are resistant to behavioral health services. This randomized controlled trial will recruit 80 Veterans who report current suicidal ideation at the time of the Crisis Line call and are resistant to seeking behavioral health treatment. Half of the participants will receive the brief, individualized CB intervention and half will receive standardized procedures from VA's Crisis Line (i.e., usual care). The effectiveness of the intervention will be tested on 1) attitudes toward behavioral health treatment rates, and 2) initiation of and adherence to treatment (assessed by the number of sessions attended). The investigators will also assess the impact of the intervention on suicidal ideation (SI) and explore the impact on the most common symptoms observed in Veteran suicide decedents (e.g., depression).

Conditions

Suicide

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Usual care

No intervention.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

CB Intervention

Cognitive Behavioral one-on-one single session administered by phone

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

CB Intervention

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The Cognitive Behavioral (CB) intervention is a brief, manualized, tailored one-on-one single session lasting 45-60 minutes and administered by phone. An individual format was chosen to reduce the potential discomfort of stigma of individual concerns in the presence of others. The intervention targets a change in the beliefs that influence whether or not someone enters mental health or substance use treatment. During the session, participants will be given a brief introduction to CBT and informed that CBT is based on the theory that cognitions (i.e., thoughts/beliefs), feelings and behaviors all interact with each other;101, 102 therefore, thoughts about certain situations or things influence behavior. Since thoughts are modifiable, changing thoughts about situations may change behavior.

Interventions

CB Intervention

The Cognitive Behavioral (CB) intervention is a brief, manualized, tailored one-on-one single session lasting 45-60 minutes and administered by phone. An individual format was chosen to reduce the potential discomfort of stigma of individual concerns in the presence of others. The intervention targets a change in the beliefs that influence whether or not someone enters mental health or substance use treatment. During the session, participants will be given a brief introduction to CBT and informed that CBT is based on the theory that cognitions (i.e., thoughts/beliefs), feelings and behaviors all interact with each other;101, 102 therefore, thoughts about certain situations or things influence behavior. Since thoughts are modifiable, changing thoughts about situations may change behavior.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• individuals 18 and older who call the Veteran Crisis Line
• have a phone number where they can be reached, be it a land line or a cell phone
• deemed by the Crisis Line responder to be at risk for suicide, but not imminent risk
• refuse a referral to the SPC or to a behavioral health treatment provider during the call
• report current suicidal ideation (SI) during the call based on administration of a standard item
• have not been in behavioral health treatment in the past. Presence of SI will be subsequently confirmed by the research assistant using the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, a validated instrument.

Exclusion Criteria

• debilitating cognitive impairment
• active psychosis or mania
• acute alcohol or drug intoxication

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

VA Office of Research and Development

FED

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Tracy A. Stecker, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

White River Junction VA Medical Center, White River Junction, VT

Locations

Canandaigua VA Medical Center, Canandaigua, NY

Canandaigua, New York, United States

White River Junction VA Medical Center, White River Junction, VT

White River Junction, Vermont, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

IIR 11-298

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id