STAT-ED: Suicidal Teens Accessing Treatment After an Emergency Department Visit
Condition: Suicide
MeSH terms: Emergencies; Suicide
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study looks to implement a novel intervention (STAT-ED) for children who screen positive
      to suicide ideation. The intervention looks to collect data from several different measures
      and then randomize participants into one of two groups: a control group where the participant
      will be set up with a mental health referral from a psychiatric social worker; or if
      randomized into the STAT-ED intervention, the adolescent and parent will receive a brief
      motivational interview, barrier reduction discussion, referral and limited case management by
      the study social worker to enhance outpatient mental health follow up after discharge from
      the ED.

      The hypothesis of the study is patients who are randomized into the STAT-ED intervention
      group will have a significantly higher rate of initiating mental health treatment and will
      attend more mental health treatment sessions in the two months after the ED visit compared
      with adolescents in the control group. Secondary aims of this study look to determine whether
      the effectiveness of the STAT-ED intervention differs by age, gender, or ethnicity; and
      evaluate predictors and mediators of mental health treatment engagement.
    

Detailed description: 
      The STAT-ED study is a two site study conducted by Cincinnati Children's Hospital and
      Nationwide Children's Hospital that is looking to test the effectiveness of a brief treatment
      engagement intervention termed Suicidal Teens Accessing Treatment After an ED Visit (STAT-ED)
      for adolescents seeking treatment in the ED for non-psychiatric concerns but identified via
      systematic screening as being at risk for suicide. In this study, investigators from both
      institutions will recruit and randomize 160 adolescents (80 per site) to either(a) the
      STAT-ED intervention or (b) enhanced usual care group (EUC). The EUC group consist of a brief
      consultation by an ED social worker and a mental health referral for the participant
      facilitated by the Psychiatric Intake Response Center. The STAT-ED intervention targets
      family engagement, problem solving, motivational interviewing, assistance with referral and
      limited case management during the transition from the ED to outpatient care with the goal of
      maximizing the initiation of mental health treatment and aftercare among youth screening
      positive for previously unrecognized suicide risk. A study trained research coordinator who
      is blinded to the participants treatment allocation will contact the participants via
      telephone at two months and six months post ED visit in order to ascertain initiation and
      attendance of the mental health follow-up, as well as an assessment of suicidal ideation and
      depression.
    

Intervention name(s): STAT-ED Intervention
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Participants in this group will receive a motivational interview conducted by a study trained social worker, where the social worker and the family will discuss the participants issues, thoughts and feelings about receiving treatment, barriers to treatment and methods of overcoming those barriers. The study trained social worker will also make a referral for a mental health follow-up for the patient.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Suicide Ideation