Suicide prevention ECHO: Evaluating a tele-education program to increase suicide prevention knowledge and skills in adolescent and adult providers

IntroductionSuicide is the second leading cause of death in persons aged 10-34 in the US. Despite the availability of evidence-based suicide screening tools and interventions, there is a gap in suicide prevention knowledge among non-psychiatric healthcare providers. This study examined a novel education program, Project ECHO^®, focused on suicide prevention. Project ECHO^® delivers subspecialized medical knowledge via teleconferencing to primary care providers and behavioral health providers.MethodsThe ECHO-Chicago Suicide Prevention program encompassed three series with 10 (behavioral health providers & primary care providers) or 9 (pediatric primary care providers) one-hour sessions in 2023-2024. Each session was comprised of expert-led didactics and participant-led case discussions. Topics included suicide epidemiology, secondary stress, zero suicide model, screening, cultural competency, safety planning, follow-up, and post-acute care transitions. Pre- and post-series surveys were used to evaluate the education program. Free text responses were analyzed using thematic coding.ResultsIn total, 106 participants participated in the program; 79 (75%) completed both the pre- and post-series surveys. Overall mean self-efficacy scores increased from 4.1 to 5.4 (<i>p</i> < 0.0001) in the behavioral health providers/primary care providers series and from 3.3 to 5.2 (<i>p</i> < 0.0001) in the pediatric primary care providers series. Participants reported an improved ability to manage complex cases and an increased quality of care. Qualitative analysis suggested clinicians benefited from learning specific screening tools and soft skills, including patient communication.DiscussionAs an affordable, scalable model, our novel curriculum has the potential to improve suicide prevention knowledge and practices amongst pediatric, adult, behavioral health, and interdisciplinary providers.