Clinical trial NCT04026308: Written vs Electronic Safety Planning Study
Official title: Written Safety Planning vs the Safety Net App: A Prospective Randomized Pilot Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Suicidal Ideation
Suicide Attempt
Mental Health
Keywords: Suicide
Suicide Prevention
Safety Planning
Safety Net App
Lead sponsor: University of Arkansas
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2019-07-19
Enrollment: 30
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 89
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: Safety planning is a brief, ED-feasible intervention which has been demonstrated to save lives and has been universally recommended by every recent expert consensus panel on suicide prevention strategies. In one popular version of the safety plan developed by Stanley et al, the patient is encouraged to write out the following items: identifying personal signs of a crisis; helpful internal coping strategies; social contacts or settings which may distract from a crisis; using family members or friends for help when in crisis; mental health professionals who can be contacted when in crisis; and restricting access to lethal means.

This study aims to find out how valuable an electronic safety plan is compared to a traditional paper safety plan. People who are visiting the emergency department for thoughts of self-harm will be asked to participate.

Detailed description: This project has 3 aims: (1) Will ED patients with suicidal ideation/attempt accept coaching on safety planning from non-clinical personnel (i.e., medical students or peer supporters); (2) Are these safety plans of high-enough quality for clinical personnel; and finally, (3) Will ED patients with suicidal ideation/attempt complete safety plans electronically?

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Patients presenting for suicidal ideation (SI) or after a suicide attempt to the UAMS ED
* Willingness to engage in safety planning with trained non-clinical staff
* Have not already filled out a safety plan at the current visit

Exclusion Criteria:

* \<18 or \>89 years of age
* Incarcerated or in police custody
* Non-English-speaking or Non-English-writing (as translators will not be available for this study)
* Critically-ill (or appear to be critically-ill)
* Intoxicated with alcohol or other substance(s)
* ED staff objection to patient enrollment in study
* Unwilling or unable to complete the safety plan electronically
* Unwilling or unable to use a tablet device to complete the safety plan
* Unwilling or unable to show/email the safety plan to clinical and research staff

Primary outcomes:
measure: Acceptability of Intervention
timeFrame: Up to 12 hours
measure: Length of Stay
timeFrame: Up to 12 hours
measure: Satisfaction With Safety Planning
timeFrame: Up to 12 hours
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Little Rock
country: United States
facility: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
state: Arkansas
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Arkansas
name: Michael P Wilson, M.D., Ph.D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: