Marraccini – MQ Mental Health Research: Co-Designing a Virtual Reality Intervention with Adolescents Hospitalized for Suicide-Related Crises Enhancing Skill Development Through the Practice Experiences for School Reintegration (PrESR) Program

Principal Investigator: Marisa Marraccini
Funding Agency: MQ Mental Health Research

Abstract

Globally, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among 15-29 year-olds and in the USA, it is the third leading cause of death for young people, behind accidents and homicide.

Some groups are at a higher risk of suicidal thoughts than others, particularly LGBTQ+ youths, and risk for suicidal thoughts has increased for people who experience discrimination such as ethnic minorities. If an individual has attempted suicide once, they are at a higher risk of repeated attempts in the future.

When a young person attempts or plans to attempt suicide, they are often hospitalised, usually in a psychiatric facility. Although treatment varies across these facilities, hospitalised youth may receive Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help them learn coping skills for suicidal thoughts and to aid recovery.

When they are discharged from hospital however, they face numerous barriers to implementing the coping skills they have learnt whilst in hospital when they return to school and their daily lives.

For many, there is not enough ongoing care or support once they have been discharged from hospital, and very few interventions exist that cater specifically to ‘at risk’ groups. This means that the increased risk of repeated suicide attempts remains high.

This project aims to design and trial a virtual reality (VR) programme that can be used whilst the person is still in hospital, to enhance the CBT and allow them to practice some of the skills they are learning in a virtual school environment.

This new virtual reality intervention aims to improve the lives of adolescents struggling with suicidal urges by improving the treatment they receive in hospital, better matching that treatment to their specific needs and aid long-term recovery, specifically for ‘at risk’ groups.

Ultimately, this can help reduce deaths from suicide among young people.