Mitigating Suicide Risk With Single Session 'Brief Skills for Safer Living'

Unity Health Toronto

Status

Completed

Conditions

Suicidal Ideation

Mental Health Issue

Depression

Suicide

Treatments

Behavioral: Brief Skills for Safer Living

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT04495543

BSL-01

Details and patient eligibility

About

Mental health concerns have been on the rise since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has worsened risk factors for suicide, including job loss, anxiety, depression, and loneliness. Timely and easy access to mental health services is a dire need, and this study will test the efficacy and feasibility of a brief clinical intervention, Brief Skills for Safer Living (Brief-SfSL), at reducing suicide risk. The goal of this study is to investigate whether Brief-SfSL, delivered online, is a suitable, acceptable and effective method for reducing suicide risk and providing timely mental health services. The results from this study will provide vital insight into effective interventions for suicide risk that are accessible and can be widely distributed.

Full description

This study will test a brief online clinical intervention targeting suicide risk that will be delivered widely, remotely, rapidly and with minimal load on the healthcare system in Canada. The "Skills for Safer Living" (SfSL) intervention, a transdiagnostic 20-week group therapy intervention designed to teach concepts, skills and coping strategies through modules targeting common areas of deficits (Personal Safety, Emotional Literacy, Interpersonal Relationships and Problem-Solving), will be adapted into a single session "Brief-SfSL" that can be delivered in an online format. The proposed study will test the effectiveness of Brief-SfSL on reducing suicide risk, as measured by reductions in suicidal ideation after 3 months, and will provide evidence for a scalable intervention that can broadly reach urban and rural communities. Lack of suicide intervention services is an immense unmet need that is especially pronounced during this pandemic and is associated with increased burden on individuals and on the healthcare system. Considering the long wait times to access consistent psychiatric services, this proposed intervention is an essential step in providing evidence-based accessible suicide risk services during and even beyond the pandemic.

Enrollment

77 patients

Sex

All

Ages

18+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

18 years or older
Experiencing suicidal ideation in the past week (Beck Suicide Scale>10)
Ability to undergo psychotherapy in English
Access to a computer with a camera or a mobile phone with a camera
Access to internet
Access to an emergency contact and hospital within commuting distance
Not receiving other psychotherapy concurrently
Willing to have the session recorded to review therapy fidelity
Follow-up visits with a psychiatrist or family doctor where a psychotherapeutic modality (e.g. DBT, psychodynamic therapy, etc.) is not being used are allowable.

Exclusion criteria

The presence of cognitive impairment that would limit consent or understanding of Brief-SfSL
The presence of active psychosis
Current substance use disorder
Unwilling or unable to provide informed consent