The Use of Voice-Based AI in 988 Crisis Counseling

Suicide Clinical Trial

Official title:

Voice-Based AI to Scale Evaluation of Crisis Counseling in 988 Rollout

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Not yet recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT06299384
• Other study ID #: R44MH133517
• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: April 1, 2024
• Est. completion date: August 2026

Study information

• Verified date: February 2024
• Source: Lyssn.io, Inc.
• Contact: Layal Bou Harfouch, MBiotech
• Phone: 2482528856
• Email: layal[@]lyssn.io
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Effective training requires repeated opportunities for skills practice with performance-based feedback, which is challenging to provide at scale. This research study focuses on developing an AI-based, coding and feedback tool ("LyssnCrisis") for implementation in a nationally utilized crisis call center, training counselors (call-takers) in suicide risk assessment skills, and evaluating LyssnCrisis to improve services and client outcomes. Our goal is to maximize the human capacity of call-takers to help assess their callers for risk of suicidality, and thus, a core aspect of the current research is developing a novel training process that supports human call-taker capacities.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Enrollment: 100
• Est. completion date: August 2026
• Est. primary completion date: June 2026
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

Must be employed at Protocall Services, Inc. Exclusion Criteria: Call-takers who participated in Stage 2 research will not be able to participate in Stage 3 research.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Suicide
• Suicide and Self-harm

Intervention

Other:
• LyssnCrisis
LyssnCrisis is an AI-based coding and feedback tool for implementation in crisis counseling settings, training counselors (call-takers) in suicide risk assessment skills.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Lyssn.io, Inc.	ProtoCall Services, Inc.

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Post-Call Survey	9 item survey utilizing LifeLine crisis call questions that measures changes in distress, perceived helpfulness, and call-taker relationship at the conclusion of a crisis call. The survey is completed by callers to ProtoCall's 988 crisis line, facilitated by the call-taker. .	Through study completion, an average of 22 weeks.
Primary	Call-taker crisis counseling fidelity	Crisis counseling fidelity will be assessed by AI-generated scores for every recorded call, which will be analyzed via Lyssn during both SAU and LyssnCrisis phases of the study. Key fidelity metrics will include empathy, use of active listening skills, and whether the counselor asked any of the 7 key risk assessment questions (e.g., ideation, plan, past attempts).	Through study completion, an average of 22 weeks.
Primary	System Usability Scale (SUS)	10 item survey that is a general measure of technology usability [ Rated from 1-5, 1= strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree]	Through study completion, an average of 22 weeks.
Primary	Acceptability of Intervention Measure; AIM	The Acceptability of Intervention (AIM) to measure target core implementation outcomes and assess if crisis tool is acceptable, appropriate, or feasible for its stated goals. A brief, 4-item measure of a mental health professional's perception of how acceptable an innovation would be for use in their context. Each statement about the acceptability of the innovation is rated on a 5-point ordinal scale ranging from "completely disagree" to "completely agree," where higher scores indicate higher levels of acceptability.	For Pilot: at end of 2 week LyssnCrisis period; for RCT, at end of 12-week LyssnCrisis period.
Primary	Intervention Appropriateness Measure; IAM	The Intervention Appropriateness (IAM) to measure target core implementation outcomes and assess if crisis tool is acceptable, appropriate, or feasible for its stated goals. A brief, 4-item measure of a mental health professional's perception of how appropriate an innovation would be for use in their context. Each statement about the appropriateness of the innovation is rated on a 5-point ordinal scale ranging from "completely disagree" to "completely agree," where higher scores indicate higher levels of appropriateness.	Through study completion, an average of 22 weeks.For Pilot: at end of 2 week LyssnCrisis period; for RCT, at end of 12-week LyssnCrisis period.
Primary	Feasibility of Intervention Measure; FIM	The Feasibility of Intervention (FIM) to measure target core implementation outcomes and assess if crisis tool is acceptable, appropriate, or feasible for its stated goals. A brief, 4-item measure of a mental health professional's perception of how feasible an innovation would be for use in their context. Each statement about the feasibility of the innovation is rated on a 5-point ordinal scale ranging from "completely disagree" to "completely agree," where higher scores indicate higher levels of feasibility.	For Pilot: at end of 2 week LyssnCrisis period; for RCT, at end of 12-week LyssnCrisis period.