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Newsletter | South Central MIRECC

Banner of the SC MIRECC communique newsletter

Summer 2019, Volume 21, Issue 3 - In this Issue

Introducing the 2019 TRIPS Awardees
RtoP | Veteran-Centered Barriers to Use of VA Mental Health Services
New Grants for Research on Suicide Prevention Funded in New Orleans
Affiliates Share Research Results Across the Country
Houston Affiliates Receive Local and National Honors
Newest Clinical Education Products
Recent Publications
Pilot Study Grant Award Application Opportunity
Research Methods and Analysis Consultation Services Available

New Grants for Research on Suicide Prevention Funded in New Orleans

SC MIRECC affiliates conduct research that optimizes the delivery and effectiveness of mental health treatment. Obtaining grants is the key for conducting this research. All grants, big and small, local pilot and federally funded, or for quality improvement, clinical demonstration, or other purposes, grants promote the growth of researchers and knowledge.

Our affiliates and their research teams write and submit grant proposals year-round. We recognize everyone’s hard work and congratulate our affiliates in New Orleans who recently received grants for suicide prevention research.

Drs. Joseph Constans, Gala True, and Amanda Raines
Left to Right: Drs. Joseph Constans, Gala True, and Amanda Raines
Development and Evaluation of a Veteran-Informed Means Restriction Intervention for Suicide Prevention

Proposed by Drs. Joseph Constans, Gala True, and Amanda Raines, this project was funded through a new VA HSR&D Innovation Initiative program that provides unique funding opportunities for investigators to submit high-risk ideas that could substantially transform health care practices rather than simply improve them.

This project will take a public health approach to changing the conversation and culture around gun safety by collaborating with gun sellers and owners to deliver means restriction counseling and materials in community-based settings. Through their work, they hope to create a cultural expectation among Veterans transitioning from military service to civilian life that safe firearm storage is expected by other Veterans and respected by leaders in the gun-owning community.

New Investigator Award

Dr. Amanda Raines has been awarded a New Investigator Research Award from the American Public Health Association. In addition to a $7500 stipend, this award allows her to access the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). NVDRS links data from vital records, coroner/medical examiners, and law enforcement agencies from multiple states to obtain comprehensive data on suicides, homicides, deaths from legal intervention, deaths of undetermined intent, and unintentional firearm deaths.

With this award, Dr. Raines will conduct a study that utilizes network analysis as a foundation for identifying characteristics of Veterans who die by self-inflicted gunshot wound versus alternative methods using NVDRS data. Determining how other risk factors interact with firearm access to increase risk of suicide death by firearm could inform public health prevention and intervention efforts. This study could help improve understanding of risk factors for suicide among Veterans, in particular those who die by self-inflicted gunshot.

 

Last updated: July 23, 2019