An Intervention With Meaning

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) health-care system utilizes a multilevel suicide prevention intervention that features the use of standardized safety plans with veterans considered to be at high risk for suicide.

Little is known about clinician perceptions on the value of safety planning with veterans at high risk for suicide.

Audio-recorded interviews with 29 VHA behavioral health treatment providers in a southeastern city were transcribed and analyzed using qualitative methodology.

Clinical providers consider safety planning feasible, acceptable, and valuable to veterans at high risk for suicide owing to the collaborative and interactive nature of the intervention. Providers identified the types of veterans who easily engaged in safety planning and those who may experience more difficulty with the process.

Additional research with VHA providers in other locations and with veteran consumers is needed.