A randomized controlled trial protocol for a virtual, scalable suicide prevention gatekeeper training program for community pharmacy staff (Pharm-SAVES)

Background: Suicide prevention gatekeeping is a skill that may support community (retail) pharmacists in managing patients who present with suicide warning signs. A brief, virtual, case-based training intervention was tailored to the retail setting (Pharm-SAVES). To test training effectiveness, a randomized controlled trial (RCT) protocol was developed for use in pharmacies across four states. Objective: To introduce the trial protocol for assessing the effectiveness for increasing the proportion of staff who recognize patients displaying warning signs and self-report engaging in gatekeeping, including asking if the patient is considering suicide. Methods: This study uses a parallel cluster-randomized controlled trial to recruit 150 pharmacy staff in community pharmacies in four states with two groups (intervention and control). The control group completes Pharm-SAVES online suicide prevention gatekeeper training and all assessment surveys at baseline after training and at 1-month follow-up. The experimental group completes all control group training and assessments plus interactive video role-play patient cases. Conclusion: We hypothesize that compared to those in the control group, experimental group trainees exposed to the interactive video role play patient cases will be more likely to recognize warning signs in patient cases and self-report engaging in gatekeeping.