Clinical trial NCT06658808: Efficacy-Implementation Study for PC CARES in Rural Alaska
Official title: Efficacy-Implementation Study for Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide (PC CARES) in Rural Alaska
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Suicide Prevention
Keywords: Suicide Prevention
Alaska Native
Community Intervention
Community-Based Participatory Research
Lead sponsor: University of Michigan
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation
name: Norton Sound Health Corporation
name: Maniilaq Association
name: University of Alaska Fairbanks
name: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
First posted: 2024-10-26
Enrollment: 1075
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 12
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: The study will have a stepped wedge design with 3 cycles of implementation (in successive years) across 9-12 villages total, depending on need and feasibility to achieve our needs. In each village, we will collect baseline data and follow-up data on knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to suicide prevention from participants and non-participants. Participants will also provide data on these topics after each learning circle they attend and non-participants will be given a monthly survey each month for 5 months as the learning circles occur. Intervention participants will be self-selecting.
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: This participatory, pragmatic efficacy-implementation trial evaluates the impact of Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide (PC CARES) to evaluate Learning Circle (LC) participant outcomes (AIM#1), community-wide diffusion effects, and efficacy by tracking youth impact (AIM#2), while finding sustainable ways to scale PC CARES to other Alaska Native (AN) communities (AIM#3).

Detailed description: AIM#1 will assess how (and if) our intervention engages the presumed proximal mechanisms of change: personal (self-efficacy) and collective (CoP) resources and skills (including knowledge) as well as distal outcomes (engagement in suicide prevention behaviors) to address suicide in the participants' own community. Using a multilevel growth model, we examine the changes in proximal outcomes of suicide prevention knowledge, self-efficacy, collaborations for a 'community of practice' (CoP), and distal outcomes of prevention-oriented behaviors of adult PC CARES participants (n=250) over time (7 timepoints), testing for moderating effects of dosage (e.g. #LCs attended), community 'readiness'; cross-sector participation on outcomes to inform future PC CARES implementation (AIM#1). Inclusion criteria for participants in Aim#1 are ages 18 and older who participated in PC CARES learning circles.

AIM#2 focuses on diffusion of learning in six randomly selected communities over the same time period as the first aim. The recruitment criteria for participating in this community-wide data collection is to be a resident of the community and age 12 years or older (youth: ages 12-17, and adults: 18 and older). Our community-wide adult and youth measures assess the community-level mechanisms of change (social diffusion), and track youth outcomes. We hypothesize that PC CARES learning circles will encourage adults to develop collaborative relationships within a CoP to implement upstream suicide prevention best practices (SPBPs) in support of youth in their lives. Using community level social network measures, we document the number and type of interactions reported by adults (n=450) over time, capturing social diffusion by comparing the knowledge, self-efficacy, CoP and prevention-oriented behaviors of (1) PC CARES participants, (2) non-participants who are 'close to' participants and (3) others, unrelated to participants (comparison group). In both the Adult and Youth Follow-up Surveys, we characterize closeness (close associates/youth 'close to' participants versus unrelated adults and youth) by asking respondents (Y/N) if they are close to a list of PC CARES participants from their community (i.e. people who attended 4+ LCs). 'Close to' is defined as someone with whom the participant feels closely connected to and interacts with at least weekly.

To assess youth impact (n=300, ages 12-17), we measure youth-reported supportive adult interactions and connectedness (over 7 time points), and pre-post perceived social support, family and community protective factors, comparing outcomes for youth who are 'close to' LC participants versus 'unrelated' youth (comparison group).

AIM#3 combines community-engaged methodologies and evidence-based implementation science frameworks to examine the barriers and enablers of PC CARES implementation in Alaska Native communities. AIM#3 examines implementation outcomes and contextual determinants to further understand how to successfully support community-driven diffusion of SPBPs in extremely rural and remote AN villages. Our evaluation will blend PC CARES' community-engaged approach with two evidence-based and widely used Implementation Science (IS) frameworks (RE-AIM; CFIR 2.0). Using participatory methods, we will sequentially and iteratively seek insights from our community partners, including: Rural Human Service (RHS) Students, RHS instructional teams (Elders; University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Practicum Faculty, mentors), and Community Steering Committee (CSC) members. All RHS student facilitators will be invited to participate in each stage of research, and if interested will be invited to join the Community Steering Committee (CSC). As the RHS student facilitation teams implement LCs as part of their practicum, biweekly zoom/phone calls will support and track RHS student experiences and insights and offer opportunities for peer and mentor support. Monthly written reports will capture each student's community-based actions (e.g., recruitment process, sharing ideas from LCs with the tribal council), their experience of hosting LCs, including 'what worked' (enablers) and implementation barriers. In these various ways, they will reflect on key contextual determinants they are navigating, and how those affect their implementation of PC CARES. Lessons learned or puzzling findings from each of 5 RHS cohorts will be shared with the LSC to gain further insights and to inform the next wave of data collection and analysis. After each wave of implementation, we will conduct focus groups with RHS student facilitators about their overall experience using semi-structured guides informed by our preliminary RE-AIM outcomes (Reach, Effectiveness, Diffusion, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance). We will transcribe focus groups recordings verbatim and use Dedoose, a qualitative analytic software, for deductive analysis using the RE(D)-AIM construct structure.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Anyone aged 12 and over who lives or works in the designated communities may participate in this study.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in Community of Practice (CoP)
timeFrame: Baseline; monthly after each LC, assessed over 5 months; follow-up at 1 month and 6 month after the last LC
measure: Change in Suicide Prevention Knowledge
timeFrame: Baseline; monthly after each LC, assessed over 5 months; follow-up at 1 month and 6 month after the last LC
measure: Change in Self-Efficacy
timeFrame: Baseline; monthly after each LC, assessed over 5 months; follow-up at 1 month and 6 month after the last LC
measure: Change in Youth Connectedness
timeFrame: Baseline; monthly after each LC, assessed over 5 months; and 1 month follow up
measure: Change in Community Protective Factors
timeFrame: Baseline; monthly after each LC, assessed over 5 months; and 1 month follow up
measure: Change in Self-Reported Supportive Interactions with Adults
timeFrame: Baseline; monthly after each LC, assessed over 5 months; and 1 month follow up
measure: Change in Perceived Social Support
timeFrame: Baseline; monthly after each LC, assessed over 5 months; and 1 month follow up
measure: Change in Suicide Prevention-Oriented Behaviors
timeFrame: Baseline; monthly after each LC, assessed over 5 months; follow-up at 1 month and 6 month after the last LC
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Fairbanks
country: United States
facility: Rural Human Services Program
state: Alaska
city: Ann Arbor
country: United States
facility: University of Michigan
state: Michigan
Study officials:
affiliation: Univer
name: Lisa Wexler, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Markowski KL, White L, Harcey SR, Schmidt T, McEachern D, Habecker P, Wexler L. What Kinds of Support are Alaska Native Youth and Young Adults Reporting? An Examination of Types, Quantities, Sources, and Frequencies of Support. Health Promot Pract. 2023 Sep;24(5):863-872. doi: 10.1177/15248399221115065. Epub 2022 Sep 1.
citation: Wexler L, Rataj S, Ivanich J, Plavin J, Mullany A, Moto R, Kirk T, Goldwater E, Johnson R, Dombrowski K. Community mobilization for rural suicide prevention: Process, learning and behavioral outcomes from Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide (PC CARES) in Northwest Alaska. Soc Sci Med. 2019 Jul;232:398-407. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.05.028. Epub 2019 May 23.
citation: Wells CC, White L, Schmidt T, Rataj S, McEachern D, Wisnieski D, Garnie J, Kirk T, Moto R, Wexler L. Adapting PC CARES to Continue Suicide Prevention in Rural Alaska During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Narrative Overview of an In-Person Community-Based Suicide Prevention Program Moving Online. Am Indian Alsk Native Ment Health Res. 2022;29(2):126-154. doi: 10.5820/aian.2902.2022.126.
citation: Wexler L, McEachern D, DiFulvio G, Smith C, Graham LF, Dombrowski K. Creating a Community of Practice to Prevent Suicide Through Multiple Channels: Describing the Theoretical Foundations and Structured Learning of PC CARES. Int Q Community Health Educ. 2016;36(2):115-22. doi: 10.1177/0272684X16630886. Epub 2016 Feb 15.
citation: Trout L, McEachern D, Mullany A, White L, Wexler L. Decoloniality as a Framework for Indigenous Youth Suicide Prevention Pedagogy: Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide. Am J Community Psychol. 2018 Dec;62(3-4):396-405. doi: 10.1002/ajcp.12293.
citation: White LA, Wexler L, Weaver A, Moto R, Kirk T, Rataj S, Trout L, McEachern D. Implementation beyond the clinic: Community-driven utilization of research evidence from PC CARES, a suicide prevention program. Am J Community Psychol. 2022 Dec;70(3-4):365-378. doi: 10.1002/ajcp.12609. Epub 2022 Jun 28.