Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42074457›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2026

Mitigating Suicide Risk During the Military-to-Civilian Transition: The VA Veteran Sponsorship Initiative.

Joseph C Geraci, David E Goodrich, Erin P Finley, Amanda L Reed, Michael Eastman, Danielle Bracco, A Solomon Kurz, Emily R Edwards, Christine Eickhoff, Chien J Chen and 29 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

39 authors.

Joseph C GeraciVA Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 2 Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, New York, NY 10468, USA.
David E GoodrichVA Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 2 Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, New York, NY 10468, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3232-2189
Erin P FinleyVISN 17 Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans, Doris Miller VA Medical Center, Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Waco, TX 76711, USA.
Amanda L ReedJames J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, New York, NY 10468, USA.
Michael EastmanOnward Ops, Washington, DC 20037, USA.
Danielle BraccoOnward Ops, Washington, DC 20037, USA.
A Solomon KurzVISN 17 Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans, Doris Miller VA Medical Center, Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Waco, TX 76711, USA.
Emily R EdwardsVA Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 2 Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, New York, NY 10468, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1030-6380
Christine EickhoffVA National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnership, Washington, DC 20420, USA.
Chien J ChenVA National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnership, Washington, DC 20420, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4377-5944
Andrea MacCarthyVISN 17 Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans, Doris Miller VA Medical Center, Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Waco, TX 76711, USA.
Brian RoederVISN 17 Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans, Doris Miller VA Medical Center, Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Waco, TX 76711, USA.
Chris PaineCenter for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8407-7130
Alberto FelicianoCenter for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.
Brigid ConnellyVA Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 2 Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, New York, NY 10468, USA.
Eric Andrew NelsonVA Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 2 Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, New York, NY 10468, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3348-1499
Sarah Rachael KarkoutTeachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.ORCID 0009-0004-1084-4845
Nicholas AhariTeachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Nicholas R LindnerTeachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.ORCID 0009-0009-5412-3843
Jack BesserTeachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.ORCID 0009-0009-2168-5399
Megan McFadyen-MungallTeachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.ORCID 0009-0004-3669-6713
Madeleine AllenTeachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.ORCID 0009-0002-4966-8004
Samantha GitlinTeachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Matthew R AugustineJames J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, New York, NY 10468, USA.
Travis BellotteVA VISN 2 Clinical Resource Hub, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA.
Leah SmithVISN 17 Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans, Doris Miller VA Medical Center, Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Waco, TX 76711, USA.
Smita BadheyVA VISN 2 Clinical Resource Hub, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA.
Balavenkatesh KannaJames J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, New York, NY 10468, USA.
Brian WestlakeJames J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, New York, NY 10468, USA.
Meenakshi ZaidiJames J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, New York, NY 10468, USA.
Rakeshwar S GuleriaVISN 17 Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans, Doris Miller VA Medical Center, Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Waco, TX 76711, USA.
Brian P MarxNational Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8988-1796
Nicolle MarinecCenter for Clinical Management Research/Health Systems Research, LTC Charles S. Kettles, VA Medical Center, Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI 48105, USA.
Jason WesbrockIII Armored Corps, U.S. Army, Fort Hood, Killeen, TX 76544, USA.
Andy CoxIII Armored Corps, U.S. Army, Fort Hood, Killeen, TX 76544, USA.
Kevin D AdmiralIII Armored Corps, U.S. Army, Fort Hood, Killeen, TX 76544, USA.
Richard W SeimVISN 17 Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans, Doris Miller VA Medical Center, Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Waco, TX 76711, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4352-9858
Ronald C KesslerDepartment of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Marianne GoodmanVA Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 2 Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, New York, NY 10468, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

A suicide epidemic exists among young U.S. veterans, with risk especially elevated in the first year of transition for the 200,000 servicemembers exiting the military annually. The VA Veteran Sponsorship Initiative (VSI) is a public-private-partnership between federal and community partners that aims to decrease suicides by providing a VA-certified volunteer peer sponsor and connection to community services. Onward Ops is a key community-based national program that enrolls, matches and manages the relationship between servicemembers and sponsors. A prior randomized controlled trial showed that the effectiveness of community interventions can be enhanced when augmented by an Onward Ops sponsor. In preparation for national implementation, we conducted a quasi-experimental, matched-cohort pilot to evaluate the feasibility of an adapted VSI protocol and then assessed effectiveness. The adaptations were executed using the Framework for Reporting Adaptations and Modifications-Enhanced between April 2021 and April 2023. The formative results supported the feasibility of the adaptations to enable proactive enrollment on military installations and expand data infrastructure, partnerships, peer sponsors, and VA clinical services. We then assessed the effectiveness for outcomes not studied in the original VSI trial for active-duty soldiers who enrolled between April and December 2023. After nearest-neighbor matching, the sample included 551 VSI participants and 551 soldiers transitioning as usual. The point-probability contrast or risk differences from the conditional logistic regression model indicated that the VSI caused a statistically significant increase in VA primary care utilization of 0.198 and a statistically significant decrease in suicide attempts of -0.019, both assessed 10 months post-military discharge. The study demonstrated the utility of public-private-partnerships, peer-sponsorship programs and enhanced VA services to support servicemembers during transition.

Indexed as

Military PersonnelSuicide PreventionVeteransAdultFemaleHumansMalePilot ProjectsPublic-Private Sector PartnershipsSuicideUnited StatesUnited States Department of Veterans Affairsadaptationsdeadly gappeer supportsuicide preventiontransitioning servicemembers/veterans

Identifiers

PMID42074457
PMCPMC13116221

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.