PREVENTS

On March 5, 2019, President Trump signed Executive Order (EO) 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: