IDEAS for Hope: A Brief Telehealth Intervention to Reduce Suicide Risk and Improve HIV Care Engagement in Tanzania

Suicide is a leading cause of death among people living with HIV (PLWH) worldwide and PLWH in Tanzania are two to three times as likely to die by suicide compared to people without HIV. Mental health challenges are also closely linked to poor HIV outcomes, including lapses in clinic attendance, poor medication adherence, risk of HIV transmission, and AIDS-related death. Yet when PLWH receive mental health treatment that addresses barriers to HIV treatment adherence, both mental health and HIV outcomes improve. The investigators are developing innovative approaches to bridge the mental health treatment gap in Tanzania, including telehealth and nurse-led counseling interventions. The investigators previously developed and conducted a pilot feasibility randomized controlled trial of IDEAS for Hope, a 3-session telehealth counseling intervention, led by nurses, to reduce suicide risk and improve HIV care engagement in Tanzania. The IDEAS for Hope intervention, grounded in Motivational Interviewing, CBT, and Problem-Solving Therapy frameworks, facilitates HIV education, stigma reduction, and social support to address social determinants of suicide risk. The pilot trial with 60 PLWH who were experiencing suicidal ideation demonstrated clear feasibility and acceptability of IDEAS for Hope, as well as strong trends toward intervention efficacy to reduce suicide risk. The long-term objective of this research is to develop a scalable implementation package to expand care, reduce suicide risk, and improve HIV care engagement in Tanzania. In Aim 1, the investigators will determine the effectiveness of IDEAS for Hope to reduce suicide risk and improve HIV care engagement in an individually randomized controlled trial. Based on the pilot trial, the investigators hypothesize that IDEAS for Hope will reduce suicidal plan and intent to near zero and will improve HIV care engagement by 17% at 6-month follow-up, which will be statistically superior to brief safety planning. In Aim 2, the investigators will explore mechanisms of change to identify how and for whom IDEAS for Hope is most effective. The investigators will analyze the effect of hypothesized mediators of suicide risk and HIV care engagement, including self-efficacy, depression, anxiety, and stigma; potential moderators include sex, age, and severity of baseline symptoms. These data will inform future refinement for at-risk groups and adaptation to other settings. In Aim 3, the investigators will evaluate implementation outcomes, including cost-effectiveness, guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). The investigators hypothesize that IDEAS for Hope will be effectively expanded to 12 clinic sites, with a favorable Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Ratio. Structured surveys and qualitative interviews with patients and providers will assess fidelity and sustainability outcomes for implementation. Given the emerging evidence for telehealth and nurse-led approaches, IDEAS for Hope has great potential to reduce the mental health treatment gap in Tanzania. The research is innovative, yet fundamentally essential, and supports NIH Strategic Objectives to prevent suicide across the lifespan in low- and middle-income countries, address mental health comorbidities of HIV, and strengthen the HIV care continuum.