Mental Health and Suicide Prevention

Providing evidence-based mental health care and increasing suicide prevention efforts for Veterans

Mental health disorders are common and associated with substantial functional impairment, morbidity, and mortality, including increased suicide risk. Over 1.7 million Veterans received mental health treatment in the VA, and rates of suicide are higher among Veterans than in the general population. The recent passage of the Cmdr. John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act calls for VA to improve mental health care and transition assistance.

In partnership with multi-level stakeholders, QUERI is deploying and evaluating implementation and quality improvement strategies to expand evidence-based mental health care and support suicide prevention efforts for all Veterans.

	Behavioral Health QUERI Program Led by Sara Landes, Chris Miller Advance care and prevent suicides for Veterans with complex behavioral health conditions. Learn more.
	Evaluation of Centralized HRF Caring Letters Led by Mark Reger Support development of and evaluate a centralized, national approach to the Caring Letters program. Learn more.
	Examining the Effectiveness of an Adaptive Implementation Intervention to Improve Uptake of the VA Suicide Risk Identification Strategy Led by Nazanin Bahraini Assess effectiveness of computerized suicide risk screening and evaluation in VA ambulatory care settings. Learn more.
	Implementation Evaluation of a National Sponsorship Program for Transitioning Service Members Led by Joseph Geraci Evaluate the impact of a national sponsorship program for transitioning service members on Veteran outcomes, including stressors, social support, psychological distress, services use, and suicidal ideation. Learn more.
	Randomized Evaluation of Caring Letters Led by Mark Reger Evaluate an innovative Caring Letters program for Veterans Crisis Line callers. Learn more.