Telephone-Based Empowerment of Caregivers for Reducing Suicidal Behaviours: A Randomised Controlled Trial Protocol
Year: 2026
Type: other
Abstract: Title: Telephone-Based Empowerment of Caregivers for Reducing Suicidal Behaviours: A Randomised Controlled Trial Protocol Running Title: Caregiver Empowerment in Suicide Prevention Abstract Background and Aims: Persons with previous suicide attempts and persistent suicidal ideation (PSA) are at increased risk of repeat suicidal behaviours. Psychosocial interventions are useful for suicide prevention, but evidence on formal caregiver empowerment is inadequate. This ongoing study evaluates a six-month Telephone-Based Psychosocial Intervention (TBPI) for PSA with a Telephone-Based Empowerment of Caregivers (TBEC) module versus TBPI alone in reducing suicidal behaviours. Materials and Methods: The study is actively recruiting patients aged 16 years and above, presenting with a recent suicide attempt or a Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSSI) score >2. The intervention group (Group 1) receives three sessions of TBPI combined with TBEC at weeks 2, 4, and 6. The comparator group (Group 2) receives TBPI alone on the same schedule. Blinded clinical assessments are conducted at weeks 8, 16, and 24. Results: Recruitment has started, and eligible patients are being randomised; however, to account for anticipated attrition, recruitment is still ongoing. The primary outcomes are group differences in time to repeat a suicide attempt or death by suicide over 24 weeks and reductions in BSSI scores. Conclusion: Empowering family caregivers through brief telephonic modules could serve as a scalable task-sharing strategy to bolster clinical support, improve mental health service compliance, and mitigate suicide risk within close-knit family structures. Keywords: Caregivers, Empowerment, Randomised Controlled Trial, Suicide Attempt, Suicidal Ideation, Telemedicine.
Source: Open Science Framework
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7213402401