An interventional study of SUicide Prevention by Peers Offering Recovery Tactics in Psychotic Disorders, Bipolar Disorders and Suicidal Ideation, sponsored by VA Office of Research and Development. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-10.
Sponsored by VA Office of Research and Development · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
Suicide is a major public health concern, particularly among Veterans with serious mental illness (SMI, i.e., psychotic disorders or bipolar disorders). Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) is a well-established evidence-based practice for those with SMI that centers on identifying warning signs of mental illness, developing wellness tools for functional independence, planning for day-to-day effective living within one's community, and building an action plan to create a valued life worth living. This proposed study will refine and pilot SUicide Prevention by Peers Offering Recovery Tactics (SUPPORT), a novel integrated recovery program that is an adaptation of peer-delivered WRAP for Veterans with SMI. In SUPPORT, a Peer Specialist leads a Veteran at increased risk for suicide through recovery planning that is tailored to the Veteran's suicidal experiences with cognitive learning strategies to enhance safety plan recall and improve functioning.
This 5-year study aims to refine and pilot a peer-delivered intervention to improve functional and social recovery to decrease suicide risk; the study consists of two phases. Phase 1 employs a user-centered design approach to refine SUicide Prevention by Peers Offering Recovery Tactics (SUPPORT) aided by scientific and consumer advisory board stakeholders as well as training Peer Specialists to fidelity on pilot cases in an open trial. SUPPORT is a flexibly delivered intervention intended to augment safety planning by addressing functional and social goals personalized to each Veteran's recovery following a suicidal crisis while including cognitive learning strategies to enhance recall and salience of intervention material. Following adaptations from Phase 1, Phase 2 includes a pilot randomized controlled trial of SUPPORT compared to an enhanced standard care condition. Veteran participants in both phases will be quantitatively assessed at baseline, mid-treatment, post-treatment, and 3-months post-treatment (and qualitatively interviewed at post-treatment). Peer Specialists delivering the intervention will also be qualitatively interviewed post-treatment. The primary outcomes to be evaluated is improvement in personal recovery and reduction in suicidal ideation severity. Secondary outcomes concern changes in various domains of personal and social functioning.
1,587 studies on the registry are indexed under Psychotic Disorders; 281 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 69 is close to the median of 65 across 1,320 interventional studies indexed under Psychotic Disorders.
Browse Psychotic Disorders studies →VA Office of Research and Development is the lead sponsor of 1,771 studies on the registry; 392 are open to participants now.
Of its 213 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 185 (87%) have results posted.
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Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Veteran Inclusion Criteria:
Peer Specialist Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
Veteran Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Veterans receiving SUPPORT will be offered all modules of the intervention via weekly, 50-minute sessions with a Peer Specialist. Following the completion of a mental health evaluation by a licensed professional, the Peer Specialist leads the Veteran who is at risk for suicide through recovery planning that is tailored to the Veteran's suicidal experiences with cognitive learning strategies to enhance recall of the Veteran's safety plan and improve recovery.
Behavioral: SUicide Prevention by Peers Offering Recovery Tactics
The enhanced standard care (ESC) condition contains the elements of standard practice suicide prevention delivered at VHA, which include: 1) suicide risk assessment, 2) VA Safety Planning Intervention, 3) timely referral to VA mental health outpatient care, and 4) Suicide Prevention Coordinator follow-up contacts. It is enhanced due to the contact with the research study.
Following the completion of a comprehensive mental health evaluation by a licensed VA provider, which includes a suicide safety plan, if a Veteran is having active thoughts of suicide or made a suicide attempt in past three months, they may be eligible for SUPPORT. In SUPPORT, the Peer Specialist and Veteran co-create a personalized suicide-focused recovery plan (SUPPORT Plan) in flexible, 50-minute weekly encounters. The SUPPORT Plan includes modules that focus on valuing recovery, building a hope kit and daily plan, setting recovery goals, and looking ahead to enhance the Veteran's safety plan. Learning strategies are incorporated into each module to promote salience and recall of intervention material. The Peer Specialist works closely with the Veteran's treatment team and uses the most recent safety plan in the Veteran's chart to help complete the SUPPORT Plan as well as reinforce the usage of the Veteran's safety plan.
Also known as: SUPPORT
Feasibility of recruitment and retention
Recruitment and retention is determined by the number of participants who were initially contacted, consented, completed baseline data, and completed follow-up data.
Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 4 years
Acceptability of SUPPORT as measured by the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 (CSQ-8)
The CSQ-8 brief survey has been used extensively in VA and non-VA settings to assess overall satisfaction with care, and it has excellent internal consistency (0.93). An overall score" is calculated by summing the participant's rating score for each scale item. Scores range from 8 to 32, with higher values indicating higher satisfaction.
Time frame: At the end of the intervention, an average of 4-weeks
Change in the Scale for Suicide Ideation (SSI)
The SSI is an 19-item interviewer administered assessment of suicidal ideation (SI) severity. The total score ranges from 0 to 38 with higher scores indicating more serve SI. The scale has demonstrated strong validity and reliability.
Time frame: Baseline, 2-weeks, 4-weeks, 3-month follow-up
Change in Recovery Assessment Scale-41
The RAS-41 is a self-report measure of personal recovery with five domains: personal confidence and hope; willingness to ask for help; goal and success orientation; reliance on others; no domination by symptoms. A review study found high Cronbach's alphas (.76 and .97) and test-retest reliability (.65 to .88). The RAS has been widely used in VA and non-VA clinical trial studies with diverse populations, a range of mental illnesses, and has demonstrated sensitivity to change over time.
Time frame: Baseline, 2-weeks, 4-weeks, 3-month follow-up
Plan to share: No
Started Sep 2023 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Jul 2027, 45 months after the start.
Of 455 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Psychotic Disorders, half reached primary completion within 34 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 19 and three quarters within 52. This study's planned 45 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 457 studies reached it within 34 months; a quarter within 19 and three quarters within 52.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
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