Targeted Condition: Suicidal Ideation

Innovative training for suicide prevention in addiction treatment settings

Although suicide is one of the leading causes of death for people with substance use disorders (SUDs), no widespread suicide prevention intervention exists for delivery in community addiction treatment settings. The effectiveness and feasibility of delivering Preventing Addiction Related Suicide (PARS), a group-based psychoeducational program that provides evidence-based suicide prevention and safety strategies, was recently demonstrated by the UW Center for Suicide Prevention and Recovery.

To enhance widespread implementation and dissemination of PARS, this project will develop online training and implementation tools. PARS-Web will be created in collaboration with key state agencies and suicide prevention professionals to meet the new training requirements for Washington State Chemical Dependency Professionals. The goal is to integrate PARS as a part of standard care in addiction treatment agencies nationwide.

Disseminating a user-friendly guide: Advancing the science of intervention adaptation and improving access to evidence-based psychological treatment

Adaptation of evidence-based practices and programs (EBPs) is a necessary component of the implementation process. EBPs must be adapted to function with the constraints of real-world practice settings, providers’ expertise, and patients’ needs. The science of intervention adaptation is hungry for well-defined methods of EBP adaptation to guide decision making. A how-to guide for EBP adaptation titled MODIFI: Making Optimal Decisions for Intervention Flexibility during Implementation, is under development with NIMH funding (F32 MH116623). MODIFI will be disseminated via multiple strategies locally, nationally, and internationally. Dissemination of MODIFI will improve the practice of intervention adaptation by providing practitioners with a how-to guide that is (a) evidence-based, (b) usable, and (c) supported by the expert consensus of implementation practitioners and researchers.

Project WISE (Workplace Integrated Support & Education)

The overarching purpose of the research is to adapt and pilot test a technology-enhanced training for hospital nurses in the delivery of a suicide prevention intervention with patients hospitalized for medical reasons.

All Patients Safe

All Patients Safe, an interactive, online suicide prevention training that meets Washington State’s licensure requirements for health care providers, has trained nearly 1900 providers to date. The training provides practical skills for medical professionals, perspectives of real patients, and concrete steps for practice change. Partners in development include the AIMS Center, Forefront Suicide Prevention, the Department of Family Medicine, Seattle Children’s, the VA, and CoMotion.