(PS2-A5) Implementation of Crisis Response Planning for Suicide Prevention by Newly Trained Providers Serving Army National Guard Members

Suicide rates among National Guard service members increased by 35 percent in 2020, highlighting the need to increase access to suicide prevention interventions for National Guard members. The Department of Defense has named crisis response planning as one of the recommended first line interventions for suicide prevention. National Guard members are often tasked with first line emergency response to domestic crisis and natural disasters. Service member providers and chaplains within the National Guard are uniquely poised to provide crisis response interventions for service members who may experience suicidal crisis during missions or drill weekends. In November 2021, a cohort of 37 chaplains and mental health providers (i.e., Behavioral Health Specialists, Behavioral Health Officers, Texas Military Department Counselors) who provide services to the Texas National Guard completed a 1-day Crisis Response Planning (CRP) training. This poster will evaluate findings including training outcomes (e.g., confidence/comfort levels with CRP), implementation barriers, post-training consultation engagement, and utilization of CRP as a suicide prevention intervention among these trainees. Preliminary data show that this cohort of trainees reported increased levels of confidence and comfort with the CRP directly following the 1-day training. Weekly CRP consultation calls were offered to all attendees with recommendation to attend 2 calls per month. During the first two months of post training consultation, trainees reported facilitating 15 CRPs with National Guard members who were experiencing suicidal crises. There were no significant differences between types of providers (e.g., Chaplains, mental health providers) in terms of pre/post training confidence levels or utilization of CRP, highlighting the versatility of CRP usage among non-behavioral health disciplines. Additional data from a 4-month follow-up survey, including analyses of implementation barriers, consultation attendance, confidence levels and CRP utilization, will be presented.