# Expanding the Geospatial Identification of Elevated Suicide Risk (GIESR) Method to Identify Neighborhood Level Risk and Protective Factors for Youth Suicide Ideation and Attempts

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SAN ANTONIO · 2022 · $1

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents in the United States.34 The National Strategy
for Suicide Prevention calls for the development of community preventive services that will reduce the risk
for suicidal behaviors.1 Yet there is a substantial gap in our knowledge of community level variables associated
with suicide risk.2 A critical next step toward developing community suicide prevention approaches is the
identification of modifiable target mechanisms for use in public health interventions. Our objective in this
proposal is to identify modifiable candidate mechanisms associated with suicide risk at the
neighborhood level. Our team has proposed and examined a statistical method for identifying localized areas
with elevated rates of suicidal ideation and attempts within the community, the Geospatial Identification of
Elevated Suicide Risk (GIESR) method. The GIESR method capitalizes on routine suicide risk screening
conducted within healthcare settings. GIESR draws on electronic health records data to map the prevalence of
suicide ideation and attempts within a defined geographic catchment area. Further evaluation of the GIESR
model, to replicate and extend this methodological approach, will support the identification of
neighborhood level risk and protective factors for youth suicidal ideation and attempts.
The project has two primary aims: Aim 1 will replicate and extend the GIESR method to evaluate its
psychometric properties and to create an implementation guide, so that GIESR can be independently replicated
and used by others for the development of community-based suicide prevention programs. The GIESR method
will be examined using data from Texas Children’s Hospital and mapping youth suicide risk within the greater
Houston metropolitan area. In Aim 2, we will apply the GIESR method to identify risk and protective factors
associated with rates of youth suicide ideation and attempts at the neighborhood level. Aim 2 includes
the merging of multiple public health focused data sets, including socioeconomic, crime, and safety data, along
with spatial mapping data and data generated by GIESR, to allow the identification of salient risk and protective
factors for suicide at the community level.
This proposal advances the goals of the NIMH Strategic Plan, Goal 4, Strategy 4.1, to utilize “electronic health
records… to identify mutable targets for improving service access, delivery, and outcomes” and to promote data-
driven approaches to identify novel targets for preventive interventions.33 Findings will inform use of the GIESR
method to identify areas of elevated risk in other communities and will inform the development of community-
based suicide prevention efforts targeting identified risk and protective factors.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10525294
- **Project number:** 1R21MH128557-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SAN ANTONIO
- **Principal Investigator:** Ryan Hill
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $1
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-07-15 → 2022-08-12

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10525294

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10525294, Expanding the Geospatial Identification of Elevated Suicide Risk (GIESR) Method to Identify Neighborhood Level Risk and Protective Factors for Youth Suicide Ideation and Attempts (1R21MH128557-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10525294. Licensed CC0.

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