Suicide prevention support in rural Nepal primary care
Integrating a suicide prevention package of strategies into decentralized primary health care systems: an implementation pilot study in rural Nepal
This project brings practical suicide-prevention supports to primary care clinics and community health workers in rural Nepal to help people who are at risk.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Yale University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New Haven, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11506145 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You and local health workers will help adapt WHO-style suicide guidance so it fits local needs and culture. Primary care staff and community health workers will be trained to use routine screening, decision aids, safety planning, and scheduled follow-up contacts. The team will add supportive supervision and simple digital tracking to make sure people identified at risk are followed over time. The package will be piloted in rural clinics to see how well it works in everyday care and what needs to change.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are people in the rural Nepali communities who seek care at participating primary clinics and are identified as having suicidal thoughts or behaviors, along with the community health workers who will deliver follow-up support.
Not a fit: People living outside the pilot areas, those not in contact with participating clinics or unwilling to accept CHW visits, or individuals needing specialized psychiatric hospitalization may not benefit from this pilot.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, clinics and community health workers could find and follow people at risk more reliably, which could reduce crises and improve safety in these communities.
How similar studies have performed: Training primary care teams and task-shifting to community health workers has helped treat depression and anxiety in similar settings, but systematic integration of suicide screening and follow-up in low-resource primary care is relatively new and less proven.
Where this research is happening
New Haven, United States
- Yale University — New Haven, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Hagaman, Ashley K — Yale University
- Study coordinator: Hagaman, Ashley K
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 below.