U.S. Veteran Interest in Peer Specialists' Help to Enhance Suicide Safety Plans: Understanding Veteran Perspectives...

Suicide safety planning is an intervention involving identifying personal warning signs and coping skills with a trained provider. Considering an individual's perspectives on engagement (i.e., remembering and reviewing) safety plans is necessary to further elucidate its helpfulness. Peer Specialists who provide support to those with mental illness may have a unique opportunity to enhance safety planning given their shared lived experience. In a U.S. Veteran sample (N = 122) with current or lifetime suicidal thoughts or behaviors, we aimed to a) examine the frequency of engagement of safety plans, b) gauge interest in connecting with a Peer Specialist to make safety plans more helpful, and c) determine if those constructs differed based on current suicidal ideation severity, thwarted belongingness, and perceived burdensomeness. A total of 44.2% of Veterans "kind of" or did not remember their safety plans. While 35.2% of Veterans had not reviewed their safety plans, 18.0% reviewed their plans but did not find reviewing it helpful. Overall, 81.1% of Veterans were interested in meeting with a Peer Specialist to make their safety plans more helpful. There were significant differences among levels of reviewing one's safety plan (did not review, reviewed and did not find it helpful, reviewed and found it helpful) and thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness. There were no other significant differences. Although frequency of engagement with safety plans varied across Veterans, a program delivered by peers to enhance safety planning is of interest and may be helpful to Veterans regardless of demographics, diagnoses, or suicide related constructs.