Excerpt

Suicide is a devastating outcome of major public health importance. Suicide rates for patients abusing alcohol and other substances, or suffering from other mental health conditions may be elevated. Because suicide prevention is a priority of the Veterans Health Administration, the VA wishes to expand and enhance use of evidence-based prevention or reduction methods. The Key Questions were: Key Question 1. What are the new or improved suicide prevention strategies (e.g. hotlines, outreach programs, peer counseling, treatment coordination programs, and new counseling approaches) that show promise for Veterans? Key Question 2. What solid evidence base supports the most promising strategies? Key Question 3. What evidence is still needed to establish various strategies as the most promising (framed as research questions to guide and focus continued research to expand knowledge regarding the effectiveness of suicide prevention approaches)?

Contents

• PREFACE
• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
  • BACKGROUND
  • METHODS
  • RESULTS
• INTRODUCTION
  • BACKGROUND
• METHODS
  • TOPIC DEVELOPMENT
  • SEARCH STRATEGY
• STUDY SELECTION
  • DATA ABSTRACTION
  • QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF INDIVIDUAL ARTICLES
  • RATING THE BODY OF EVIDENCE
  • PEER REVIEW
• RESULTS
  • LITERATURE FLOW – UPDATE
  • KEY QUESTION #1: What are the new or improved suicide prevention strategies (e.g. hotlines, outreach programs, peer counseling, treatment coordination programs, and new counseling approaches) that show promise for Veterans?
  • KEY QUESTION #2: What solid evidence base supports the most promising strategies?
  • KEY QUESTION #3: What evidence is still needed to establish various strategies as the most promising (framed as research questions to guide and focus continued research to expand knowledge regarding the effectiveness of suicide prevention approaches)?
• SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION
  • LIMITATIONS
  • CONCLUSIONS
• REFERENCES
• APPENDIX A DATA COLLECTION FORMS
• APPENDIX B EXCLUDED STUDIES
• APPENDIX C EVIDENCE TABLES
• APPENDIX D PEER REVIEW COMMENTS

Prepared for: Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Health Services Research & Development Service, Washington, DC 20420. Prepared by: Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Healthcare System/Southern California/RAND Evidence-based Practice Center, Los Angeles, CA.

This report is based on research conducted by the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Healthcare System and Southern California Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) under contract to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The findings and conclusions in this document are those of the author(s) who are responsible for its contents; the findings and conclusions do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Therefore, no statement in this article should be construed as an official position of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

This report is intended as a reference and not as a substitute for clinical judgment.

This report may be used, in whole or in part, as the basis for development of clinical practice guidelines and other quality enhancement tools, or as a basis for reimbursement and coverage policies. The Department of Veterans Affairs endorsement of such derivative products may not be stated or implied.

Financial disclosure: No investigators have any affiliations or financial involvement (e.g., employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties) that conflict with material presented in the report.