Peer-Written Caring Letters for Veterans after a Suicidal Crisis.

Abstract

Objective: In the evidence-based suicide prevention intervention, Caring Letters, healthcare providers send brief, caring messages to patients following psychiatric inpatient care, a time of elevated suicide risk. However, recent studies with military populations have found mixed results. An adaptation of Caring Letters employed a peer framework in which veterans from the community wrote brief caring messages to veterans discharging from psychiatric inpatient treatment after a suicidal crisis.

Methods: The present study utilized content analysis to assess 90 caring messages generated by 15 peer veterans recruited from veteran service organizations (e.g., American Legion).

Results: Three themes emerged: (1) Shared Military Service, (2) Care, and (3) Overcoming Adversity. Peer-generated content varied in how the coded themes were expressed in the messages.

Conclusion: These veteran-to-veteran caring messages may bolster belongingness, social support, and destigmatize mental health struggles, and have the potential to augment existing Caring Letters effects and interventions.