A model for the assessment, care, and treatment of suicidal risk within the military intelligence community

Thomas A Van Dillen; Robert L Kane; Benjamin S Bunney; Seth Feuerstein; Christopher L Hopkins; Jackson T Raimo; Toihunta Stubbs; David A Jobes

doi:10.1080/08995605.2021.1962185

A model for the assessment, care, and treatment of suicidal risk within the military intelligence community

Mil Psychol. 2021 Sep 24;34(3):345-351. doi: 10.1080/08995605.2021.1962185. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Thomas A Van Dillen¹, Robert L Kane², Benjamin S Bunney³, Seth Feuerstein³, Christopher L Hopkins¹, Jackson T Raimo¹, Toihunta Stubbs¹, David A Jobes⁴

Affiliations

¹ Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM), Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, USA.
² Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychology, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA.

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a behavioral health and wellness model into the US Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) to address concerns about suicide within this community. In response to stresses existing within the intelligence community (IC), INSCOM partnered with the Army Public Health Center (APHC) to assess the health and wellbeing of Command personnel. A Community Health Assessment (CHA) survey was conducted (N = 2,704 Soldiers; N = 959 Civilians) that included focus groups across three installations and secondary source data. Six key areas were prioritized: suicide behavior, behavioral health access to care and health promotion, behavioral health stigma and maintaining clearances, workplace environment, sleep health, and overall fitness. Several actions were implemented to address the report's findings and recommendations. A Command Surgeon office was established within INSCOM. An INSCOM Health Assessment and Readiness Team (I-HART) was established. The Deputy Undersecretary of the Army provided support to address suicide within INSCOM by approving 4 highly qualified experts (HQE's) in behavioral health and clinical suicidology to provide research oversight and make recommendations. The Command General approved 8 behavioral health providers. There are planned research efforts within the command focusing on scalable and technology enabled care delivery to improve mental well-being and decrease suicides.

Keywords: INSCOM; Suicide; community health assessment.

This work was authored as part of the Contributor’s official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 USC. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under US Law.