A peer veteran approach to the caring letters suicide prevention program: Preliminary data

Area of Science:

• Mental Health
• Psychiatry
• Military Psychology

Background:

• The Caring Letters intervention, designed to reduce suicide risk, has yielded inconsistent results in military and veteran populations.
• A need exists for interventions culturally adapted to military service members and veterans, emphasizing peer support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To pilot a modified Caring Letters intervention using peer veterans (PVs) to deliver support to hospitalized veterans (HVs) at risk of suicide.
• To assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of this peer-led, culturally adapted intervention.

Main Methods:

• Peer veterans (PVs) attended a workshop and wrote monthly letters to hospitalized veterans (HVs) for six months post-discharge.
• A limited efficacy design was employed to evaluate implementation, recruitment, retention, and participant satisfaction.
• Feasibility and acceptability were assessed through implementation procedures, participant rates, and satisfaction measures.

Main Results:

• Hospitalized veterans (HVs) demonstrated significant improvement in suicidal ideation from baseline to follow-up (g = 3.19).
• Resilience scores also showed improvement among HVs (g = 0.99).
• Peer veterans (PVs) reported a potential reduction in mental health treatment stigma at one month post-workshop.

Conclusions:

• The peer veteran (PV) approach to the Caring Letters intervention is feasible and acceptable for supporting hospitalized veterans (HVs).
• Preliminary findings suggest this adapted intervention may reduce suicidal ideation and enhance resilience.
• Further research with larger sample sizes is warranted to confirm these findings.