Developing Centers on Interventions for the Prevention of Suicide
After years of advocating for the development of a network of collaborative research centers that could evaluate the effectiveness of promising suicide prevention treatments, in 2004, AFSP was influential in making such centers a reality. Working with a coalition of federal agencies that included the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the Foundation pledged to help fund and coordinate Developing Centers for Interventions for the Prevention of Suicide at three institutions: Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, the University of Pennsylvania Medical College and the University of Rochester Medical College.
The third annual meeting of the DCIPS was held July 11-12, 2007, in Washington, D.C. Each year, this meeting is planned and cosponsored by AFSP and NIMH to provide an opportunity for the centers to share information about suicide prevention interventions and treatments currently being studied at each institution, and to explore cross-site collaboration strategies. Also attending these meetings are representatives from the University of Pittsburgh Medical College, the University of Michigan Medical Center and the VISN 19 Veterans Administration Medical Center in Denver, which has been the key suicide research center within the VA. As a result of discussions held at the two prior annual meetings, committees have been formed that are working on an on-going basis to achieve greater standardization in procedures and measures used by the centers to assess suicidal ideation and behavior, as well as other concepts related to suicide and the treatment of suicidal persons.
AFSP's unique role as the sole private sponsor of the DCIPS is to encourage cross-site collaborative research by providing funding to the centers to implement a common research project. In 2006, the centers, with coordination from the Foundation, began planning a research protocol focused on developing and testing procedures that would ultimately lead to a coordinated suicide attempt registry.
Registries have been effectively used for many illnesses and conditions, most recently HIV, to better characterize affected individuals and to further research on the condition through identifying sufficient numbers of individuals willing to participate in scientific studies. Such research has led to a better understanding of risk and protective factors related to many illnesses, and to identification of effective interventions for preventing their occurrence and treating those already affected.
In 2002, the Institute of Medicine report, Reducing Suicide: A National Imperative, called for the development of a national suicide attempt registry, and described this activity as a core rationale for developing a network of collaborative suicide research centers. As envisioned, a coordinated suicide attempt registry would have a number of important functions:
The registry, funded by AFSP through a two-year, $300,000 grant, collected data in the psychiatric emergency rooms of the three Developing Centers on Interventions for the Prevention of Suicide. In one year, investigators registered 163 patients who had made a suicide attempt or self-injured, as well as controls. The primary instrument used, the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS), was compared with a multitude of other instruments and found to be valid. This groundbreaking work has provided an important new database for research and led the National Institute of Mental Health to write a contract for researchers to participate in a general ER registry. In addition to helping NIMH to develop its contract, DCIPS investigators are continuing to collect data, and have helped the Veterans Affairs system develop their ER intervention program. AFSP oversaw the planning and implementation of this innovative project, results of which will be published.
The project has been funded by proceeds from the Out of the Darkness walks.
