Recruitment of adolescents with suicidal ideation in the emergency department: lessons from a randomized controlled pilot trial of a youth suicide prevention intervention

BackgroundEmergency Departments (EDs) are a first point-of-contact for many youth with mental health and suicidality concerns and can serve as an effective recruitment source for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of mental health interventions. However, recruitment in acute care settings is impeded by several challenges. This pilot RCT of a youth suicide prevention intervention recruited adolescents aged 12 to 17 years presenting to a …