Mitigating Suicide Risk With Single Session 'Brief Skills for Safer Living'

Depression Clinical Trial

Official title: Mitigating Suicide Risk During the COVID-19 Pandemic Via Telehealth Using an Intensive Single Session of "Brief Skills for Safer Living"

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

Mental health concerns have been on the rise since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has worsened risk factors for suicide, including job loss, anxiety, depression, and loneliness. Timely and easy access to mental health services is a dire need, and this study will test the efficacy and feasibility of a brief clinical intervention, Brief Skills for Safer Living (Brief-SfSL), at reducing suicide risk. The goal of this study is to investigate whether Brief-SfSL, delivered online, is a suitable, acceptable and effective method for reducing suicide risk and providing timely mental health services. The results from this study will provide vital insight into effective interventions for suicide risk that are accessible and can be widely distributed.

Clinical Trial Description

This study will test a brief online clinical intervention targeting suicide risk that will be delivered widely, remotely, rapidly and with minimal load on the healthcare system in Canada. The "Skills for Safer Living" (SfSL) intervention, a transdiagnostic 20-week group therapy intervention designed to teach concepts, skills and coping strategies through modules targeting common areas of deficits (Personal Safety, Emotional Literacy, Interpersonal Relationships and Problem-Solving), will be adapted into a single session "Brief-SfSL" that can be delivered in an online format. The proposed study will test the effectiveness of Brief-SfSL on reducing suicide risk, as measured by reductions in suicidal ideation after 3 months, and will provide evidence for a scalable intervention that can broadly reach urban and rural communities. Lack of suicide intervention services is an immense unmet need that is especially pronounced during this pandemic and is associated with increased burden on individuals and on the healthcare system. Considering the long wait times to access consistent psychiatric services, this proposed intervention is an essential step in providing evidence-based accessible suicide risk services during and even beyond the pandemic. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Depression
• Mental Health Issue
• Suicidal Ideation
• Suicide

• NCT number: NCT04495543
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Unity Health Toronto
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: December 1, 2020
• Completion date: March 24, 2023