Peer Mentorship to Reduce Suicide Risk Following Psychiatric Hospitalization

NCT ID: NCT02365116

Last Updated: 2017-08-15

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 79 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2015-08-19
• Study Completion Date: 2017-05-26

Brief Summary

Every year in the United States about 1 million people make a suicide attempt and more than 38,000 die by suicide. The risk of suicide is highest among individuals with mental illness who have been hospitalized due to suicidal thoughts or behaviors, yet there are few interventions known to reduce suicide risk in this population. This study will develop and pilot test a peer mentorship intervention by which trained peer professionals will use their own personal experience with recovery from mental illness to instill hope and belongingness in high-risk patients and provide additional support to prevent future suicidal thoughts or behaviors.

The specific aims of the study are to: (1) develop a peer mentorship intervention to reduce suicide risk among patients psychiatrically hospitalized with suicidal ideation or following a suicide attempt; (2) Conduct a randomized controlled pilot study to assess the acceptability, feasibility, and fidelity of the peer mentorship intervention in preparation for a larger efficacy trial; and (3) an exploratory aim will be to measure potential mediators and moderators of intervention effectiveness in terms of belongingness, burdensomeness, and hopelessness according to the interpersonal theory of suicide.

Conditions

Suicidal Ideation

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Peer Mentorship intervention

A Peer Specialist will be making weekly follow-up contact with study participants in the community or by telephone for 3 months following hospital discharge. The content of the peer mentorship interactions will be based on the manual developed by the study team and will include components such as hope and belongingness.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Peer mentorship

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Patients who are working with a peer specialist will have their sessions audio taped and reviewed by research staff for training purposes and to ensure that peer specialists are following protocol.

Enhanced Usual Care

Patients will continue to receive usual care which typically consists of referral to an outpatient psychiatrist. Participants will also receive a phone call within 24-72 hours from a member of the inpatient unit clinical staff to assess barriers to follow-up care and safety. The enhancement to usual care will occur at the 3 and 6 month follow-up assessments, where participants will be assessed to determine whether they require any additional referral information for follow-up care. If referral information is indicated, the patient will be provided a list of mental health treatment providers in their area.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Enhanced Usual Care

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The enhancement to usual care will occur at the 3 and 6 month follow-up assessments, where participants will be assessed to determine whether they require any additional referral information for follow-up care. If referral information is indicated, the patient will be provided a list of mental health treatment providers in their area.

Interventions

Peer mentorship

Patients who are working with a peer specialist will have their sessions audio taped and reviewed by research staff for training purposes and to ensure that peer specialists are following protocol.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Enhanced Usual Care

The enhancement to usual care will occur at the 3 and 6 month follow-up assessments, where participants will be assessed to determine whether they require any additional referral information for follow-up care. If referral information is indicated, the patient will be provided a list of mental health treatment providers in their area.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

1. are age 18 years or older

2. have medical record documentation of suicidal ideation or suicide attempt at the time of admission

3. are fluent in English

Exclusion Criteria

1. substantially cognitively impaired (according to Mini-Cog)

2. unable to provide voluntary, written, informed consent for any reason (including incompetency)

3. determined by the patient's attending psychiatrist that due to the patient's psychiatric condition peer mentorship may be harmful to the patient or peer specialist (e.g., severe personality disorder, unstable paranoia)

4. already receiving or intending to receive peer mentorship (including having a sponsor from Alcoholics Anonymous) or participate in group-based peer support on a biweekly or more frequent basis

5. are receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

6. are located more than 50 miles from any of the peer specialists

7. are being discharged to a residential treatment facility

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

Sponsors

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Michigan

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Paul Pfeiffer

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

University of Michigan Inpatient Psychiatry Unit

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Henry Ford Kingswood Hospital

Ferndale, Michigan, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

R34MH103447-01

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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