Making short coping plans more helpful using phones and wearables
Official title: Optimizing Brief Coping Skills Interventions for Suicide Prevention: Leveraging Technology and Novel Statistical Models for Precision Mental Health
Funded at Ohio State University · NIH-11238883 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Researchers will use phone check-ins and wearable sensors to learn when brief safety plans help people recently discharged from psychiatric hospitals who are at high risk for suicide.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Ohio State University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Columbus, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | December 1, 2024 |
| Project end | November 30, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $585,043 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MH136286-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11238883 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people recently discharged from an inpatient psychiatric hospitalization who are considered at high risk for suicide and can use a smartphone and wearable device.
✕Less likely to help
Those who are not recently hospitalized for suicidal crises, cannot or will not use a smartphone or wearable, or cannot complete frequent brief surveys are less likely to benefit directly from this work.
What this research studies
If you join, the team will follow you after a psychiatric hospital stay and ask short surveys on your phone at multiple times a day, while collecting data from a wearable device and periodic clinician check-ins. The goal is to find the personal warning signs, contexts, and times when using a safety plan would be most helpful. The study will combine these everyday reports and wearable signals with new statistical methods to tailor when and how coping strategies should be offered. About 240 people will take part in this naturalistic follow-up to better understand real-world use of brief coping plans.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could make safety plans more useful by telling you when and how to use them in moments of high risk, potentially lowering the chance of a suicide attempt.
How similar studies have gone: Prior safety-planning and phone-based monitoring studies have shown promise, but combining wearables with precision statistical models to time interventions is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Ohio State University
Columbus, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bozzay, Melanie — Ohio State University
- Study coordinator: Bozzay, Melanie
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.