National Guard Suicide Prevention Innovation Framework

The National Guard Studies Program (NGSP) asked IDA to develop a systematic process to identify, select, and deploy evidence-based suicide prevention (SP) practices. To achieve this end, IDA accomplished two main objectives. First, IDA developed a Compendium of Suicide Prevention Strategies to organize and specify best practices leveraged in the broader SP community as well as within the National Guard (NG). The compendium provides a common tool for states and territories to reference and select from as they design SP, psychological health, and resiliency programs that meet their local needs. The compendium directly complements the second objective of this project: a SP Innovation Process to identify, develop, and implement best practices within the NG. The innovation process draws on the Compendium of SP Strategies to understand gaps in NG programs. Further, as new evidence-based practices are developed through the innovation process, the Compendium of SP Strategies can be expanded.