# Treating Drivers of Suicide in Primary Care using Jaspr Health

> **NIH NIH R44** · EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE INSTITUTE, INC. · 2022 · $1,017,589

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 Suicide remains a serious public health problem in the U.S. as rates have risen nearly each year since
2005, from 11.0 per 100,000 to 14.8 per 100,000 in 2018, totaling 48,344 in 2018; 1.4 million U.S. adults made
a suicide attempt, and another 12 million thought seriously about killing themselves that same year. Alcohol
use disorder (AUD) exponentially increases suicide risk and can also interfere with suicide prevention
intervention efforts. Suicide prevention initiatives over the past decade have targeted healthcare systems
(HCS) in general and primary care clinics (PCC) in particular because so many who die by suicide access their
primary care provider (PCP) in the months and year prior to their death. Though universal suicide screening is
now routinely conducted in PCC, many HCS and PCC struggle to provide suicide prevention evidence-based
practices (EBP) on par with other behavioral health EBP commonly treated in PCC. Digital technologies can
efficiently and reliably help deliver suicide prevention EBP in PCC and increase the confidence and
competence of PCP in treating suicide, including AUD that may interfere with these efforts.
 Jaspr Health (“Jaspr”; R44MH108222) is a suicide prevention platform originally designed for use by
acutely suicidal patients in emergency departments (ED) to deliver suicide prevention EBP. Grounded in
Jobes’ Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS), Jaspr guides patients in completing
a comprehensive suicide risk assessment and lethal means counseling, builds a crisis stabilization plan, and
teaches behavioral skills to reduce imminent distress; videos of people with live experience (PLE) offer wisdom
and hope for getting through suicide crises. Information is summarized for the care team to aid in discharge
disposition planning. A companion app provides support post-discharge. Results from a randomized controlled
trial (RCT; N=31) comparing Jaspr to Care-as-Usual strongly support its feasibility, acceptability, and
effectiveness in increasing delivery of EBP, reducing agitation and distress, improving capacity to cope with
suicidal thoughts, and improving ED satisfaction.
 This 34-month fast track seeks to increase the public health impact of Jaspr Health by extending its utility
to deliver evidence-based brief interventions that directly target and treat a person’s reasons for wanting to die
(their “drivers” for suicide) while simultaneously addressing alcohol misuse. The proposal is defined by three
project stages which include: (1) a proof-of-concept formative evaluation stage where we will iteratively
design, test, and build a prototype (Phase I; Months 1-10); (2) a product design-and-build formative
evaluation stage, where we will design, build and test all remaining features and apps (Phase II; Months 11-
22); and (3) a summative evaluation stage involving a pilot test (N=20) and a RCT (N=120) comparing Jaspr
to a suicide prevention app and other online well...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10659264
- **Project number:** 4R44AA029868-02
- **Recipient organization:** EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE INSTITUTE, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Linda A Dimeff
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $1,017,589
- **Award type:** 4N
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10659264

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10659264, Treating Drivers of Suicide in Primary Care using Jaspr Health (4R44AA029868-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10659264. Licensed CC0.

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