Table 1.
Participant groups’ inclusion and exclusion criteria and sample size for steps 1, 2, and 3.
| Participant group | Inclusion criteria | Exclusion criteria | Step 1 | Step 2a | Step 3b |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veterans with lived experience and community members | Veterans living in rural Arkansas who experienced suicidal thoughts or behavior or their caregivers, family, or peers; Arkansas community members involved in assisting with preventing Veteran suicides (e.g., clergy, state Veteran Service Officers) | Acutely high risk for suicide at the time of study activities; cognitive impairment or substance use that impedes study activities | N = 10 | n/a | N = 8 |
| Implementers and implementation experts | Persons with research or practical experience implementing new treatments/programs into practice who have considered or attempted to engage consumer groups in implementation, VHA or non-VHA settings; can reside in any country | Have not considered or attempted to engage consumers in implementation | N = 5 | N = 11a | N = 1c |
| Community engagement experts | Persons of any discipline trained and experienced in engagement of consumers, communities, and other patient-level stakeholders in research or implementation, VHA or non-VHA settings; can reside in any country | No experience in consumer or community engagement | N = 3 | n/a | N = 2 |
| VHA personnel including suicide prevention champions in rural clinics | Persons employed in VHA, in a national or local role related to suicide prevention or safety planning intervention; included rural clinic mental health leaders | Not employed in VHA, general mental health researcher or employee with no clear expertise in suicide prevention | N = 8 | n/a | N = 3 |
a
These are 11 participants unique from participants in Step 1.
b
These participants were from the same sample as recruited in Step 1.
c
We sampled much fewer implementers in Step 3 than prior steps because they represented a group with more exposure to consumer engagement in implementation activities and by Step 3, we wanted to sample a group with less exposure to this topic for their “real-world” reactions to Consumer Voice tools.