The Veterans Affairs Patient Safety Center of Inquiry—Suicide Prevention Collaborative: Creating Novel Approaches to Suicide Prevention Among Veterans Receiving Community Services
Bryann DeBeer is the Director of the VA Patient Safety Center of Inquiry – Suicide Prevention Collaborative and a Clinical Research Psychologist; Claire Hoffmire is an Epidemiologist and Health Science Specialist; Nathaniel Mohatt is a Research Psychologist; Germaine Franciosi is a Quality Management Specialist; Edgar Villarreal is a Clinical Psychologist and Program Manager for Suicide Prevention; all at the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System (VAECHCS). Lindsey Monteith is a Clinical Research Psychologist; Dawn Pierson is a Program Specialist; and Samantha Synett is Suicide Prevention Coordinator; all at the Rocky Mountain Mental Illness, Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC) for Suicide Prevention, Rocky Mountain Regional Veterans Administration Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado. Bryann DeBeer is a Visiting Associate Professor; Claire Hoffmire is an Assistant Professor; and Nathaniel Mohatt is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; Lindsey Monteith is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry; all at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado. Joseph Mignogna is a Clinical Research Psychologist; and Justin Benzer is the Implementation Core Chief; both at the VA VISN 17 Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans in Waco and the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System. Sylvia Baack is the Director of Quality, Safety, and Value; Kathryn Bongiovanni and Kattina Bryant are Suicide Prevention Coordinators; Stephanie Clafferty and Kimberly Weinberg are Social Work Supervisors; Marjory Williams is the Associate Chief Nurse, Research; all at the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System in Waco, Temple, and Austin. Elisa Borah is the Director of the Institute for Military and Veteran Family Wellness and a Research Associate Professor at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin. Craig Bryan is the Stress, Trauma, and Resilience (STAR) Professor at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. Ruth Cassidy is the Navy Suicide Prevention Program Manager/Lead Analyst in the 21st Century Sailor Office, Compliance and Competencies Branch in the US Navy, Millington, Tennessee. Jenna Heise is Texas State Suicide Prevention Coordinator in theOffice of Mental Health Coordination, Suicide Prevention Team, Health and Human Services Commission in Austin and Zero Suicide Faculty at Zero Suicide Institute, Education Development Center in Waltham, Massachusetts. Robin Keene is not affiliated with an organization. Joseph Mignogna is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the College of Medicine, in Temple, Texas. Alan Peterson is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio; a Research Health Scientist in the Research and Development Service, South Texas Veterans Health Care System; and a Professor in the Department of Psychology, University of Texas at San Antonio. Nathaniel Mohatt is a Clinical Instructor in the Division of Prevention and Community Research, Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine. Justin Benzer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin.
Author disclosures The authors report no actual or potential conflicts of interest with regard to this article. This work was supported by a Patient Safety Center of Inquiry Grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Patient Safety.
Disclaimer The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Federal Practitioner, Frontline Medical Communications Inc., the US Government, any of its agencies, or any other affiliates
Improving suicide prevention for veterans who receive non-VHA health care is essential to significantly reduce veteran suicide rates. For the past decade, VHA suicide prevention initiatives have largely focused on veterans eligible for care, although the fastest increase in veteran suicide rates has occurred among veterans not connected to VHA services. Currently, if a veteran is deemed ineligible for care, it is up to the veteran to find other health care services in his or her community. There is not always a clear next step for the veteran to take, nor clear guidance provided to the VHA registration staff to assist with this care transition. This is particularly concerning for veterans at high risk for suicide as this could further thwart the veteran’s sense of belongingness and increase perceived burdensomeness, both suicide risk factors, and discourage them from attaining help.40 Overall, while the VHA has successfully implemented diverse suicide prevention initiatives and services, the need for continued system improvement focused on non-VHA veterans remains. PSCI-SPC was developed for this purpose.
By creating a collaborative that will connect VHA and community organizations, there will be better utilization of resources and more appropriate referrals throughout systems that interact with veterans. Sharing suicide prevention best practices between VHA and community partners is expected to increase access to mental health treatment to all veterans. Finally, by allowing best practices for suicide prevention in the VHA to serve as a guide in the development of best practices for suicide prevention between the VHA and the local health and behavioral health care community, PSCI-SPC will create a new suicide prevention intervention for veterans with mental health needs. Through these initiatives, PSCI-SPC will support providers’ and concerned citizens’ efforts to ensure that fewer veterans fall through the cracks of disjointed systems and will promote healthier communities where, regardless of VHA enrollment status, veterans receive suicide prevention care.
Conclusions
PSCI-SPC is a novel center for the innovation and dissemination of the nation’s best practices in suicide prevention for veterans who are ineligible for or otherwise not engaged in VHA services and who turn to their community for health care. PSCI-SPC not only seeks to create, develop, and measure various solutions to reduce suicide among veterans who receive non-VHA care, but also seeks to facilitate the overall quality of existing practices for suicide prevention and care coordination for enrolled veterans who use community resources. By bridging the gap between the VHA, civilian health care systems, and other community partners striving to prevent veteran suicides, we can create better access to care and a more seamless path of communication among these important entities that impact the lives of our veterans daily
