[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 122 (Tuesday, June 25, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29887-29889]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-13476]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY


National Research Strategy for the President's Roadmap To Empower 
Veterans and End the National Tragedy of Suicide (PREVENTS)

AGENCY: Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Executive 
Office of the President.

ACTION: Request for information.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: To advance the President's vision of a National Roadmap to 
Empower Veterans and End Suicide, OSTP and VA will lead development of 
a National Research Strategy to improve the coordination, monitoring, 
benchmarking, and execution of public- and private-sector research 
related to the factors that contribute to veteran suicide. Through this 
RFI, we seek input on ways to increase knowledge about factors 
influencing suicidal behaviors and ways to prevent suicide; inform the 
development of a robust and forward looking research agenda; coordinate 
relevant research efforts across the Nation; and measure progress on 
these efforts. The public input provided in response to this RFI will 
inform the Veteran Wellness, Empowerment, and Suicide Prevention Task 
Force, who will develop and implement the National Research Strategy.

DATES: Response Deadline: July 15, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Shieh at 202-456-4444. Emails 
may be addressed to [email protected]. Questions, comments or 
RFI submissions via email should include ``RFI Response: National 
Research Strategy for the President's Roadmap to Empower Veterans and 
End the National Tragedy of Suicide (PREVENTS)'' in the subject line of 
the message. Please designate the question(s) you are answering by 
providing the letter and number of the specific question(s) below prior 
to providing your answer(s).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 5, 2019, President Trump signed 
Executive Order (E.O.) 13861 mandating the development of the 
President's Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End the National Tragedy of 
Suicide (PREVENTS). The Roadmap will include a National Research 
Strategy to advance efforts to improve quality of life and reduce the 
rate of suicide among veterans by better coordinating research within 
and beyond the Federal government, and enhancing the integration of 
research across the social, behavioral, and biological determinants of 
wellness and brain health.
    We aim to understand the full spectrum of factors influencing 
veteran suicide. Efforts are needed that would allow early detection of 
trauma in the brains of living people and improve our understanding and 
ability to prevent conditions or factors that contribute to suicide. We 
aim to incorporate public health approaches that target prevention 
strategies and address intervention for individuals, communities, and 
the broader population.
    Reducing the rate of suicide in the veteran population will require 
an innovative, concerted approach to public health, with wide 
stakeholder input. The Federal government alone cannot address these 
challenges; therefore, we seek to involve the Nation's full research 
and development (R&D) ecosystem, and collaborate with state, local, 
territorial, and tribal governments, as well as community members, 
industry, non-profit organizations, and academic institutions to ensure 
that veterans have access to effective suicide prevention services. Our 
collective efforts begin with the common understanding that suicide is 
preventable, and that prevention requires ongoing support prior to and 
beyond intervention at the point of crisis. To end veteran suicide, we 
must develop a holistic understanding of the underlying factors that 
determine the overall health and well-being of our Nation's veterans.
    The National Research Strategy shall include milestones and metrics 
designed to:
    i. Improve our ability to identify individual veterans and groups 
of veterans at greater risk of suicide;
    ii. Develop and improve individual interventions that increase 
overall veteran quality of life and decrease the veteran suicide rate;
    iii. Develop strategies to better ensure the latest research 
discoveries are translated into practical applications and implemented 
quickly;
    iv. Establish relevant data-sharing protocols across Federal 
agencies that align with community collaborators;
    v. Draw upon technology to capture and use health data from non-
clinical settings to advance behavioral and mental health research to 
the extent practicable;
    vi. Improve coordination among research efforts, prevent 
unnecessarily duplicative efforts, identify barriers to or gaps in 
research, and facilitate opportunities for improved consolidation, 
integration, and alignment; and
    vii. Develop public-private collaboration models to foster 
innovative and effective research that accelerates these efforts.
    Further Instructions: All public comments are welcome and should be 
submitted by July 15, 2019 in order to ensure they are considered in 
the National Research Strategy. Responses may be submitted online at 
https://www.research.va.gov/PREVENTS/.
    Response to this RFI is voluntary, and respondents need not reply 
to all questions. Each individual or institution is requested to submit 
only one response, and to indicate whether it is an individual or 
organizational response. Comments containing references, studies, 
research, and other empirical data that are not widely published should 
include copies or electronic links of the referenced materials. 
Comments containing profanity, vulgarity, threats, or other 
inappropriate language or content will not be considered.

[[Page 29888]]

    All submissions, including attachments and other supporting 
materials, will become part of the public record and are subject to 
public disclosure. Responses to this RFI, without change, may be posted 
on a Federal website. Therefore, no business proprietary information, 
copyrighted information, or personally identifiable information should 
be submitted in response to this RFI. Please note that the U.S. 
Government will not pay for response preparation, or for the use of any 
information contained in the response.

Questions To Inform Development of the National Research Strategy

A. How can we improve our ability to identify individual veterans and 
groups of veterans at greater risk of suicide?

    1. What are the most critical near-term and long-term areas for 
research into factors influencing veteran suicide and methods to assess 
an individual's risk of suicide?
    2. What are the biggest gaps in capability to identify and address 
the social, behavioral, and biological determinants of health leading 
to suicidal behavior in veterans? Consider associated conditions such 
as mental illness, traumatic brain injury (TBI), chronic traumatic 
encephalopathy (CTE), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and 
depression, as well as social determinants of health and research in 
intervention and post-intervention strategies.
    3. How can various disciplines (e.g., neurology, endocrinology, 
psychology) work together to better understand and address individual 
risk factors that lead to veteran suicide? How can different 
disciplines work together to develop individual intervention 
strategies?

B. How can we develop and improve individual interventions that 
increase overall veteran quality of life and decrease the veteran 
suicide rate?

    4. How might we better understand the progression of veterans as 
they transition from military to civilian life in a way that supports 
identification of suicide risk factors, protective factors, and 
opportunities for intervention that addresses veterans at various 
stages of transition, before the point of crisis?
    5. What are currently known effective and promising or emerging 
practices for suicide prevention? What factors make these practices 
effective? What additional research is needed to demonstrate the 
effectiveness of promising practices?
    6. What tools, platforms, methods, or technologies are needed to 
advance:

 Understanding of suicide risk factors
 Assessment of individuals most likely to be at risk of suicide
 Evaluation of protective factors leading to the prevention of 
suicide
 Improvements in social connection and community engagement of 
veterans
 Identification of opportunities for intervention far before 
the point of crisis

    7. What are barriers to the adoption of existing tools, platforms, 
methods, or technologies that identify suicide risk factors or provide 
effective interventions?

C. How can we develop strategies to better ensure the latest research 
discoveries are translated into practical applications and implemented 
quickly?

    8. What types of organizations should be engaged in developing and 
implementing the National Research Strategy? Which existing consortia 
or partnerships should be involved, and why? Are there existing 
organizations that have been effective in identifying and mitigating 
veteran suicide risks? Are there programs and resources within 
communities that have been successful? What factors made these programs 
successful?
    9. How can the Federal government strengthen the public health 
system, including mental health and crisis intervention education and 
training programs, to ensure an adequate, well-trained medical 
workforce that is well-equipped to respond to the challenge of veteran 
suicide?
    10. What are the primary barriers to adoption of current best 
practices for the assessment, evaluation and implementation of public 
health approaches targeting suicide prevention?
    11. What are effective methods to quickly transition promising 
practices into clinical and community practice? Where have these 
methods been demonstrated to work previously?
    12. What are methods and models to evaluate and measure outcomes 
and effectiveness of interventions?
    13. What are the key elements in building a robust and forward 
looking research agenda, in addition to translating research outcomes?

D. How best to establish relevant data-sharing protocols across Federal 
partners that align with community partners?

    14. How can Federal data, such as that from the Federal Interagency 
Traumatic Brain Injury Research (FITBIR) informatics system, be best 
leveraged in combination with local or regional data to provide new 
insights into trauma or the progression of disease? Are there 
technological limitations that prevent use of Federal data from 
generating information to predict outcomes?
    15. What data or types of data are required to advance research 
efforts? Are there existing sources of data or validated datasets 
related to veteran suicide, mental health, risk determination, brain 
injury, or other relevant areas that have been previously underutilized 
in Federal efforts?

E. How should we draw upon technology to capture and use health data 
from non-clinical settings to advance behavioral and mental health 
research to the extent practicable?

    16. How can both clinical and non-clinical data be better used to 
inform research efforts, and enhance current models of predictive 
analytics?
    17. Are social determinants or risk factors being used to target 
services or provide outreach? If so, how? How are the beneficiaries 
with social risk identified?
    18. Are there especially promising strategies for improving care of 
patients with social risk?
    19. How are costs for targeting and providing those services 
evaluated? What are the additional costs to services, such as case 
management, and to provide additional services (e.g., transportation)? 
What is the return on investment in improved outcomes or reduced 
healthcare concern?

F. How can we improve coordination among research efforts, prevent 
unnecessarily duplicative efforts, identify barriers to or gaps in 
research, and facilitate opportunities for improved consolidation, 
integration, and alignment?

G. How can we develop a public-private collaboration model to foster 
innovative and effective research that accelerates these efforts?

H. Please provide any additional information not addressed by previous 
questions that is crucial to the creation, implementation, and success 
of a National Research Strategy to improve the coordination, 
monitoring, benchmarking, and execution of public- and private-sector 
research related to the factors that contribute to service member and 
veteran suicide.

    Thank you sincerely for contributing to efforts to end Veteran 
suicide.

    Authority: National Science and Technology Policy, Organization, 
and

[[Page 29889]]

Priorities Act of 1976, 42 U.S.C. 6601, Public Law 94-282.

Stacy Murphy,
Operations Manager.
[FR Doc. 2019-13476 Filed 6-24-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3270-F9-P