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DoD Is the Largest Single Funder of Suicide Prevention Research, but Work Being Conducted Outside DoD May Be Relevant to Military Personnel.

• Suicide prevention research tends to focus on identifying who dies by suicide (i.e., risk and protective factor interactions), psychotherapeutic interventions to treat individuals at risk for suicide (i.e., psychosocial interventions), and ensuring that those at risk can access affordable, accessible, and effective care.
• DoD could leverage studies conducted elsewhere to support programs that serve military personnel.

DoD and RAND Experts Identified Varying Levels of Effectiveness and Learning Potential Across the Various Suicide Prevention Strategies in DoD.

• DoD stakeholders and non-DoD experts considered the department's goals for suicide prevention on five grounds: (1) overall importance, (2) effectiveness, (3) cultural acceptability, (4) cost, and (5) learning potential (i.e., the amount that could be learned by pursuing strategies tied to the goals). A multistep assessment provided a more nuanced view of DoD's priorities and gaps in the research.
• DoD stakeholders ranked gatekeeper training (peer support for suicidal personnel) as important, culturally acceptable, and the least costly but currently not very effective. The RAND experts ranked it as having a high level of learning potential. These factors indicate that DoD should invest in more research on these approaches.

There Is a Gap Between DoD's Needs and Ongoing Research, and There Are Challenges to Translating Research into Practice.

• DoD, like other organizations, suffers from a research-to-practice gap. The most promising results from studies by DoD and other entities do not always find their way to those responsible for implementing suicide prevention programs that serve military personnel.
• Leadership buy-in, incentives, increased funding, and evidence of effectiveness can all boost the uptake of new strategies by DoD suicide prevention programs that serve military personnel.