Poetry Online Engagement Among Military-Connected Individuals and Impact on Suicidality

Suicidality among U.S. veterans and servicemembers remains a critical public health crisis. Innovative, non-clinical interventions that overcome traditional barriers, including stigma and healthcare access, are urgently needed. Although non-clinical arts-based engagement offers a promising strategy, most studies to date are qualitative and few include military populations. To address this gap, we examined the impact of an online, poetry-based Community of Practice (CoP) on depression, loneliness, and suicidality, using validated psychometric scales in a military-connected population.

This pre-post pilot study enrolled 38 military servicemembers and veterans between February 2023 and February 2024. The intervention consisted of facilitated monthly virtual sessions incorporating shared reading, poetry writing, and peer-to-peer appreciative feedback. Changes in mental health scores were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), DeJong Gierveld Loneliness Scale-6 (DJGLS-6), and the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). Effect sizes were calculated using the matched-pairs rank-biserial correlation (rrb).

Participation was associated with a significant reduction in suicidal ideation severity (Z = 2.97, P = .003), representing a large effect size (rrb = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.50-0.88). Stratified analyses confirmed significant improvements for participants aged >45, those with health insurance, those living with others, and those attending ≥4 sessions (P-adj < .05). Changes in loneliness (DJGLS-6) and depression (PHQ-9) were not statistically significant (P = .095 and P = .186, respectively).

A virtual, poetry-based CoP may provide a scalable, non-clinical pathway to reduce suicidality among veterans and servicemembers. These findings suggest that structured creative engagement can improve high-risk mental health outcomes while fostering community, offering a promising upstream adjunct to traditional clinical care.