Text Message Program Helps Teens at Risk for Suicide Feel Supported

An automated texting system was found to help youth at risk for suicide feel supported following discharge from a pediatric hospital, according to research from the faculty at the Center for Suicide Prevention and Research (CSPR) at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. The study was published in JMIR Pediatrics.

The pilot enrolled 1888 adolescent participants, of whom 1792 (94.92%) completed the program. Patients were enrolled at the time of discharge from services sought for a suicidal crisis. Caring Contacts, a program that sends validating messages via text, postcard, or letter to patients receiving care, was utilized. The messages provide support without placing demands (eg, reminders about scheduling future appointments). For this study, the researchers implemented an automated Caring Contacts texting system to send supportive text messages with accompanying images to enrolled participants for a 4-month period following hospital discharge.

“Prior research has shown that patients are around 300 times more at risk of suicide in the first week after hospital discharge, and 200 times more at risk over the first month, compared [with] the general population,” said John Ackerman, PhD, a child clinical psychologist and suicide prevention clinical manager for the CSPR, in a press release. “Reaching patients where they are in their day-to-day lives is crucial in supporting them before, during, and after a crisis.”

Participants completed post-text satisfaction surveys. Overall, 83% reported feeling moderately to very hopeful, and 88% reported feeling moderately to very supported. Most (92%) respondents felt that peers would be helped by these text messages. Additionally, 86% reported wanting to keep receiving the messages in the future if the option was available.

“More work needs to be done in order to measure clinical effectiveness and improve rates of enrollment. However, as the first children’s hospital to study this approach and integrate it as part of an overall quality improvement framework, we are encouraged by what we’ve seen in terms of implementing this approach in our hospital,” said Glenn Thomas, PhD, lead author and director in behavioral health services at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “Patients need to know that we are here for them even after they leave our walls.”