# 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** · LOUISIANA STATE UNIV A&M COL BATON ROUGE · 2022 · $239,531

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY:
 Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents in the United States.16 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 the 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 the GIESR method 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, firearm licensing,
crime, and safety data, along with data generated by the GIESR method, 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.15 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:** 10743151
- **Project number:** 7R21MH128557-02
- **Recipient organization:** LOUISIANA STATE UNIV A&M COL BATON ROUGE
- **Principal Investigator:** Ryan Hill
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $239,531
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2022-07-15 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10743151

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10743151, Expanding the Geospatial Identification of Elevated Suicide Risk (GIESR) Method to Identify Neighborhood Level Risk and Protective Factors for Youth Suicide Ideation and Attempts (7R21MH128557-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10743151. Licensed CC0.

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