Direct to Phase II Open Topic: Evaluation and Improvement of a Peer-to-Peer Social Support Platform for Military Service Members and Veterans

The proposed project aims to implement and test enhancements to a peer-to-peer social support platform for U.S. military Service members (SMs) designed to prevent suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) and related problems. This platform, “RallyPoint,â€Â is an existing peer-to-peer support platform currently being used by 1.7m SMs and Veterans. Aim 1 of this project tests a validated text-reading machine learning (ML) guided system to help identify SMs most in need of help, based on their posts, and other user activity to aid targeted interventions for those at elevated risk of STBs and related problems. Aim 2 uses two experiments to test interventions aimed at improving the mental health of SMs within the RallyPoint platform by increasing: (a) social engagement with other SMs/Veterans, and (b) the likelihood of accepting referrals to higher levels of care (e.g., contact with a hotline or clinician) for those determined to be at high risk of STB. This proposed project builds on successful earlier work by our team, maximizing the likelihood that this project will achieve the intended goal of providing an effective peer-to-peer support platform that is accessible to SMs/Veterans and can increase military readiness and mitigate risk of STBs and related problems.