INSTITUTE OF HEALTH EQUITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE RESEARCH

Evaluation of the National Suicide Prevention Program Grant

Project Background

The Massachusetts Adult Suicide Prevention Project (MASPP), led by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health in close collaboration with the MA Suicide Prevention Program at the Department of Public Health, is utilizing the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention grant to integrate suicide prevention into the healthcare system on Cape Cod and the Islands, which has experienced a high rate of growth in suicides and now has among the highest rates in the state.

Dr. Lincoln, through the Northeastern University Public Evaluation Lab is leading the evaluation of the Massachusetts Adult Suicide Prevention Project. They are working in collaboration with the program team of MASPP to collect and analyze evaluation data relevant to MASPP.

From 2008 to 2014, Barnstable County had the highest suicide rate in Massachusetts at 16.68 deaths per 100,000, exceeding the statewide rate of 11.10 deaths per 100,000. There were 608 completed suicides in MA in 2014, including 30 in Cape Cod and the Islands, as well as 11,014 hospital discharges and emergency department visits for non-fatal self-inflicted injuries in FY2014. Cape Cod and the Islands’ high rate of suicide has doubled between 2000 and 2011 from 6.2 to 12.1 per 100,000 persons, much higher than the 38% statewide rate of increase between 2003 and 2013.

MASPP is also linking Cape Cod and the Islands’ community suicide prevention resources to those of its medical and behavioral health systems to create a Zero Suicide Community System of Care that provides continuity of care after discharge from emergency, psychiatric, and detoxification care, and increases engagement in community behavioral health treatment.

Processes, tools, and protocols developed will be used to inform development of Zero Suicide Community Systems of Care across Massachusetts. Dr. Lincoln, through the Northeastern University Public Evaluation Lab is leading the evaluation of the Massachusetts Adult Suicide Prevention Project. They are working in collaboration with the program team of MASPP to collect and analyze evaluation data relevant to MASPP. As the evaluator of this project, Dr. Lincoln and her team will:

  • Lead and develop an overall participatory local evaluation plan
  • Monitor ongoing processes and the progress towards the goals and objectives of the project
  • Track performance outcomes and implement regular reporting
  • Develop and implement pre-post and follow-up instruments
  • Develop data collection protocols for documenting and evaluating service provision funded through the grant
  • Provide training in data collection to local project staff
  • Work with the Institutional Review Boards to ensure ethical compliance with data collection and reporting activities
  • Attend any required grantee meetings
  • Participate in regular project meetings
  • Analyze data and report findings to key staff and leaders on ongoing basis for performance feedback and program monitoring

Project Team

Entrance to building with a bicycle and blooming tulips

Rachel Jones
Principal Investigator
Northeastern University

Northeastern University

Behrakis Health Science Center at Northeastern's Boston Campus

Loraine Lacroix
Project Manager
Northeastern University