Military veterans continue to demonstrate elevated rates of death by suicide compared with the general population. In particular, veterans with a recent psychiatric hospitalization have a proximal increase in suicide risk within the first three months after discharge from acute care. Bolstering protective factors, such as social connectedness, may help decrease these risk factors and therefore suicide risk. Veterans however generally report low social connectedness and thus may have limited supportive others available following hospitalization. The goal of the current project is to develop a conceptual model of the community engagement experience among recently psychiatrically hospitalized veterans utilizing a qualitative research approach to inform future interventions.