Peer Delivered Youth Suicide Prevention in Nepal

South Asia has the highest suicide rate in the world with important risk profile differences from high-income settings. Investigators will conduct formative research to co-design a package of brief interventions and implementation strategies to prevent youth-suicide and then test the package in a pilot feasibility hybrid type 2 cluster randomized controlled trial in Nepal. Potential health impacts may be substantial as results can be applied not only in similar South Asian primary healthcare contexts, but also in low-resource settings in the US and abroad, where the suicide burden remains high.

Using experience-based co-design and equity-focused implementation frameworks, this study will assess the feasibility and acceptability of a Youth-focused, Peer-delivered, Family-engaged Suicide Prevention Package (YPF-SuPP) integrated within existing mhGAP services in Nepal's decentralized primary healthcare system. This pilot trial will generate preliminary data to inform the design of a future fully powered effectiveness trial and potential scale-up of youth suicide prevention strategies.