Smartphone App Enhanced Facilitation Among Veterans in a Mental Health Inpatient Setting (Project HOPE)
Virtual Hope Box Enhanced Facilitation in High-Risk Suicidal Veterans
VA Office of Research and Development
928 participants
Mar 26, 2025
INTERVENTIONAL
Conditions
Summary
This study will test whether a novel intervention, Virtual Hope Box Enhanced Facilitation (VHB-EF), reduces suicide risk in Veterans after discharge from inpatient psychiatric hospitalization. Additionally, this study will also conduct interviews with Veterans and healthcare providers to explore barriers and facilitators to future adoption of the VHB-EF intervention in healthcare settings.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria8
- Those enrolled in the RCT component of this study must be:
- \) Veterans aged 18 or older
- \) admitted to the inpatient psychiatric unit for a recent suicidal crisis
- \) medically stable (the patient's medical and psychological fitness \[including aggression\] to provide informed consent will be determined by a member of the patient's treatment team)
- \) A score of 3 or greater on the Callahan 6-item cognitive screening.
- \) report current suicidal ideation (Scale for Suicidal Ideation \[SSI\]; sum of items 4 and 5 > 0, referencing the week prior to their hospitalization) as reported during the screening interview
- \) no reported use of the VHB within the past 12-months
- \) access to a smartphone to download the VHB app
Exclusion Criteria6
- Veterans will be found ineligible for the program if:
- \) do not understand English
- \) are prisoners
- \) are unable to provide informed consent
- \) have profound psychotic symptoms and/or cognitive deficits that would prevent patients from understanding the content of the intervention and/or assessments
- \) to not have access to a smartphone
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Interventions
The VHB-EF intervention has two phases: (1) The in-person inpatient phase involves a single, one-on-one, 60-minute session delivered by the study interventionist prior to hospital discharge. During this session, the interventionist will obtain access to the participant's personal phone and assist them in downloading the VHB app. The interventionist will provide education about the app and personalized behavioral practice for each component of the app. They will also address strategies to enhance app use. In addition, participants will receive a list of Veteran mental health resources, community services, Veteran service organizations, and other Veteran social support services available to Veterans in the area. (2) The remote-delivery phase builds on the work begun in the hospital via 2 follow-up phone contacts within 14 days following discharge, during which the study interventionist will monitor risk, review/revise VHB content, and support app use and outpatient treatment engagement.
The EUC condition will involve a one-on-one, 30-minute session delivered prior to hospital discharge, during which the study interventionist will review a list of Veteran mental health resources, community services, Veteran service organizations, and other Veteran social support services available to Veterans in the area. The EUC session will remain focused only on reviewing the standardized list of Veteran and community services; no counseling will be provided, and the list provided by the study interventionist does not include non-services (i.e., does not list any smartphone applications, including the VHB app).
Locations(1)
View Full Details on ClinicalTrials.gov
For the most up-to-date information, visit the official listing.
NCT06378541