Thursday, March 20, 2025
3/20/2025
The “Suicide Prevention Navigators Coordinating Care for Suicidal Crisis and Domestic Violence Victims” project involves embedding a network of Suicide Obviation and Support Navigators (SOS navigators) in ten emergency departments (EDs) throughout Northeast Indiana and connecting (as support and training resources) to our inpatient psychiatric facility and domestic violence organizations to provide screenings, coordination of care, and at elbow support for those recently experiencing suicidal crisis and/or domestic violence. Using a caring contacts intervention format to guide our intervention strategy, four SOS navigators will follow up within 48 hours with those who have experienced a suicidal crisis and have been recently discharged from our network of 10 emergency departments in Northeast Indiana (NEI) and our inpatient treatment facility (PBH). They will also provide support (including referrals to insurance navigators) for the client to see a mental health service provider within seven days of discharge. We will also employ a project director and outreach educator to build, connect, and educate a comprehensive suicide prevention network in our NEI community. Our goals are: 1) to reduce suicides in NEI and provide support, screenings, and outreach to those who are experiencing suicidal crisis or domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic and 2) provide education to the members of the community (both clinical and other support organizations) who interact with those who may be in crisis. This will include training on evidence based practices, such as screening for depression, suicidality, and domestic violence using validated tools (i.e., Patient Health Questionnaire 9, Columbia–Suicide Severity Rating Scale, and Partner Violence Scale), client safety strategies (i.e., Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) and Safety Planning Interventions (SPI) with clients to help ensure safety after discharge), and Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) training for the SOS navigators and community members to help them learn to effectively identify and refer those who might be experiencing crisis. The navigators and coordinator will also identify support resources for clients and serve as bridges between the client and health, mental health, and domestic violence organizations (these will be counted as project outcomes). We project that we will enroll 50 clients in month 3 and approximately 100 clients per month beginning in month 4 (estimated 950 total clients within entire 16-month grant period), with whom the SOS navigators will maintain contact for 6 months to 1 year. Additionally, we intend to conduct at least 16 community trainings on suicide prevention for adults from involved organizations (approximately 30 per session), which may be a mix of online and face-to-face trainings, depending on COVID-19 gathering restrictions.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).