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Behavioral Intervention

Caring Contacts for Suicide Prevention (SPRING Trial)

N/A

Recruiting

Led By Anna K Radin, DrPH, MPH

Research Sponsored by St. Luke's Health System, Boise, Idaho

Eligibility Criteria Checklist

Specific guidelines that determine who can or cannot participate in a clinical trial

Must have

Timeline

Screening 3 weeks

Treatment Varies

Follow Up baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months

Awards & highlights

No Placebo-Only Group

Summary

This trial compares 3 approaches to preventing suicide: 2-way texts, 1-way texts & enhanced usual care to see which is most effective.

Who is the study for?

The SPRING Trial is for adolescents (12-17 years) and adults (18+) who show signs of suicide risk based on the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale or provider notes. Participants must be able to communicate via text, phone calls, and emails in English. Those with hearing impairments can receive accommodations.

What is being tested?

This trial tests suicide prevention strategies by comparing two-way vs. one-way Caring Contacts text messages against enhanced usual care to see which is more effective in preventing suicide among at-risk individuals.

What are the potential side effects?

Since this trial involves communication-based interventions rather than medical treatments, there are no direct physical side effects expected from participating.

Timeline

Screening ~ 3 weeks3 visits

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~ baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months

Screening ~ 3 weeks

Treatment ~ Varies

Follow Up ~baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months

This trial's timeline: 3 weeks for screening, Varies for treatment, and baseline, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months for reporting.

Treatment Details

Study Objectives

Study objectives can provide a clearer picture of what you can expect from a treatment.

Primary study objectives

Suicidal behavior

Secondary study objectives

Outpatient mental health treatment

Suicide attempts

Suicide ideation

+1 more

Other study objectives

All-cause ED utilization and hospitalizations

All-cause mortality

Completed suicide

+6 more

Awards & Highlights

No Placebo-Only Group

All patients enrolled in this study will receive some form of active treatment.

Trial Design

3Treatment groups

Experimental Treatment

Active Control

Group I: Two-Way Caring Contacts Texts (CC2)Experimental Treatment1 Intervention

In addition to receiving enhanced usual care as described below, a series of 25 standardized outgoing Caring Contacts text messages will be sent to participants randomized to the CC2 intervention arm through our online texting platform. To remind participants that they can respond, the outgoing texts will periodically invite replies in a non-demanding way, e.g., "Hope you're doing well this week, Anna. Feel free to text me back if you feel like it, I'm here for you." Responses to CC2 participant replies will be unscripted and individually tailored.

Group II: One-Way Caring Contacts Texts (CC1)Experimental Treatment1 Intervention

In addition to receiving enhanced usual care as described below, CC1 participants will be sent 25 caring texts, such as "Even though know we do not personally know each other, we truly value your wellbeing and are thinking of you. If you'd like to connect with someone, feel free to call or text 988 anytime - their team would be happy to hear from you." CC1 participants will not be able to reply to the texts and the online texting platform will block incoming messages. This will be clearly communicated to CC1 participants during the informed consent process and they will be asked to sign off on understanding this and other key points before enrolling in the study.

Group III: Enhanced Usual Care (UC)Active Control1 Intervention

Participants randomized to the UC arm will receive best available usual care from the health system, such as standardized clinical assessments, the safety planning intervention or other intervention(s), appropriate referrals and/or medication management through a system wide electronic health record system-assisted suicide care clinical workflow. Usual care will vary based on patient clinical needs, availability of providers/staff, and provider clinical judgment. Following study enrollment, all participants will be given a list of resources, offered a warm hand-off to 988, and encouragement to call or text 988 as needed. During the baseline survey, participants will have the opportunity to opt into a call from the follow-up team to develop or revise a safety plan.

Treatment

First Studied

Drug Approval Stage

How many patients have taken this drug

Caring Contacts

2020

N/A

~180

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