Kaiser Permanente
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn the best way to provide suicide prevention care to adults receiving outpatient mental health care. The study compares two approaches based on the Zero Suicide Framework: Local Care Continuity and Centralized Care Navigation. The main questions the study aims to answer are: * Does adding support from a centralized telehealth care navigation team reduce suicide attempts compared with providing additional tools and support to local mental health clinicians? * Does the centralized approach help more patients receive recommended suicide prevention care, including safety planning, and connect with follow-up mental health treatment? * How do patients experience the two approaches, including their ability to cope with difficult situations and their experiences with their mental health care? Researchers will compare Local Care Continuity, in which suicide prevention care is delivered by patients' local mental health clinicians with additional implementation support, with Centralized Care Navigation, which adds support from a centralized telehealth team of clinicians and care navigators. The researchers expect that Centralized Care Navigation will result in better suicide prevention care, greater connection to follow-up treatment, and fewer suicide attempts than Local Care Continuity.
This is a pragmatic, two-arm, parallel, cluster-randomized comparative effectiveness trial evaluating two approaches for delivering systematic suicide prevention care to adults receiving outpatient mental health care. The study is based on the Zero Suicide Framework and addresses an important question for health care systems: whether evidence-based suicide prevention practices can be effectively delivered by patients' existing local mental health clinicians with enhanced implementation support, or whether outcomes can be improved by adding a centralized telehealth team that provides specialize…
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age 18 years or older 2. Attending an intake or follow-up outpatient mental health visit at a participating Kaiser Permanente Northern California mental health clinic during the study eligibility period 3. Nine months of enrollment in the year prior to index visit, allowing for 1-month gaps Exclusion Criteria: 1\) None specified for the overall CE-RCT population
Local Care Continuity uses implementation strategies to support existing specialty mental health clinicians in delivering evidence-based suicide prevention care. Implementation strategies include electronic health record tools for suicide risk assessment, safety planning, and follow-up; practice facilitation, including training and troubleshooting; and audit and feedback on delivery of suicide prevention practices. When suicide risk is identified, the local mental health clinician conducts suicide risk assessment, develops a safety plan as clinically indicated, and plans appropriate follow-up care.
Centralized Care Navigation uses the same implementation strategies as Local Care Continuity and adds a centralized telehealth suicide prevention service. The centralized team includes clinicians and non-clinician care navigators who work with local mental health clinicians to provide or facilitate suicide risk assessment and safety planning. When clinically indicated, patients receive a digital safety plan supported by a care navigator. Care navigators provide telehealth follow-up to support safety plan completion and connection to follow-up mental health care and send Caring Contacts from the care team.