SecureHomes Randomized Clinical Trial (SecureHomes)

November 6, 2026 updated by: VA Office of Research and Development

A Randomized Clinical Trial of the VA Secure Homes Lethal Means Intervention for Veterans With Elevated Suicide Risk

Firearm suicide prevention is a leading VA priority. To date, no intervention has been shown to encourage Veterans with elevated suicide risk to adopt secure firearm storage practices to reduce their suicide risk. The proposed effort will test whether the SecureHomes intervention can encourage Veterans with elevated suicide risk to adopt secure firearm storage practices, such as voluntarily removing firearms from their households or securing them with locking devices.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The VA Clinical Practice Guidelines encourage clinicians to facilitate secure firearm storage for at-risk Veterans. No such intervention has ever been tested in a clinical trial among Veterans. SecureHomes is an intervention which was found to be feasible and highly acceptable to Veterans. The aim of this trial is to determine the efficacy of the SecureHomes intervention compared to an attention control condition among 400 Veteran firearm owners with elevated suicide risk.

Hypothesis 1a: Veterans who receive SecureHomes will be significantly more likely to report meaningful reductions in firearm access (MRIA) at 30 days compared to Veterans who receive the attention control.

Hypothesis 1b: Among participants who do not store their firearms locked at baseline, Veterans who receive SecureHomes will be significantly more likely to report locking all household firearms at 30 days.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
400

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Colorado
      • Aurora, Colorado, United States, 80045-7211
        • Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, Aurora, CO
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Joseph A Simonetti, MD MPH
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Firearms on premises (assessed via Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center Lethal Means Safety measure)
  2. Owns at least one of the firearms on premises (assessed via Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center Lethal Means Safety measure)
  3. Has ACCESS to at least one of the firearms on premises (definition below, via Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center Lethal Means Safety measure)
  4. Recent VHA ED/UC, PC, OMH encounter who screen positive on the C-SSRS Screener (definition below) - (determined via recruitment database)

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Severely cognitively impaired
  2. Lack decisional capacity
  3. Are unable to provide consent
  4. Lack phone access
  5. Are currently admitted to the hospital
  6. Have a drug use disorder with current use (other than marijuana)
  7. Have alcohol use disorder with daily intake
  8. Participated in the SecureHomes pilot study

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: SecureHomes

Participants receive the SecureHomes lethal means intervention: one virtual session of about 20-30 minutes plus an optional follow-up of about 5-10 minutes. Sessions are delivered by clinicians with suicide prevention experience who are trained in firearm cultural competency and firearm-specific motivational interviewing. Participants can receive educational print materials and no-cost firearm locking devices based on their preferences.
Behavioral: SecureHomes

A virtually delivered lethal means safety intervention that aims to increase awareness of the link between firearm access and suicide risk and to encourage secure firearm storage. It uses a firearm-specific motivational interviewing approach developed by the study team. It encourages meaningful reduction in firearm access (MRIA) for all participants, and locking all firearms for those not ready to adopt MRIA. Based on participant preference, the study team ships educational print materials and no-cost locking devices (lockboxes and cable locks) to participants' homes.
Active Comparator: Attention Control

Participants receive Health and Stress Counseling, matched in time to the SecureHomes arm: one virtual session of about 20-30 minutes plus an optional follow-up of about 5-10 minutes. Sessions focus on promoting healthy, stress-reducing behaviors and contain no active components specific to firearm storage.
Behavioral: Health and Stress Counseling

An attention control condition matched to SecureHomes in session length and follow-up. Sessions promote healthy and stress-reducing behaviors and contain no firearm-storage knowledge, motivation, or resources.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Participants With Meaningful Reduction in Firearm Access (MRIA) at 30 Days
Time Frame: 30 days

MRIA is assessed with the Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) Lethal Means Measure. MRIA includes: removal of all household firearms, removal of all household ammunition, all firearms locked with the participant lacking the key or code, all ammunition locked with the participant lacking the key or code, or the firearm disassembled with a critical part kept away from the participant.
30 days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Participants Who Lock All Household Firearms at 30 Days Among Those Not Locking All Firearms at Baseline
Time Frame: 30 days

Assessed with the Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) Lethal Means Measure. Participants who stored any household firearm unlocked at baseline are assessed at 30 days. A participant counts if all household firearms are stored locked, using an external locking device or a locked container.
30 days

Other Outcome Measures

Other Outcome Measures

For clinical trials, a planned measurement described in the protocol that is used to determine the effect of an intervention/treatment on participants. For observational studies, a measurement or observation that is used to describe patterns of diseases or traits, or associations with exposures, risk factors, or treatment. Types of outcome measures include primary outcome measure and secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Participants With Other Increases in Locked Firearm Storage at 30 Days
Time Frame: 30 days

Assessed with the Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) Lethal Means Measure. Includes incremental changes in locked firearm storage, including moving from no firearms locked to some firearms locked.
30 days
Number of Participants With Increases in Unloaded Firearm Storage at 30 Days
Time Frame: 30 days

Assessed with the Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) Lethal Means Measure. Includes incremental changes in unloaded firearm storage, including from none unloaded to some unloaded, and some unloaded to all unloaded.
30 days
Number of Participants Storing Any Firearm Loaded and Unlocked at 30 Days
Time Frame: 30 days

Any firearm loaded and unlocked.
30 days
Change in Beliefs About the Importance of Locked Firearm Storage
Time Frame: Baseline and 30 days

Changes in agreement from baseline to 30 days in beliefs about the importance of locked firearm storage. Rated on 1-10 scale.
Baseline and 30 days
Change in Firearm Removal Beliefs
Time Frame: Baseline and 30 days

Changes in agreement from baseline to 30 days in beliefs about the importance of removing firearms from the household. Rated on 1-10 scale.
Baseline and 30 days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
VA Office of Research and Development

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Joseph A Simonetti, MD MPH, Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, Aurora, CO

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
February 1, 2027

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
January 31, 2030

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
January 31, 2030

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 6, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 6, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
November 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 6, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
November 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • HSR4-030-25W
  • 1I01RD001918-01A1 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Veterans Health Administration)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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