Communicating with Elderly People in Suicidal Crisis in the Light of Helpline Worker Experience

Adam Czabański,Ewa Baum

doi:10.2478/slgr-2020-0040

Abstract

Abstract The increase in suicidal behaviour among elderly people makes it necessary to take action in the field of broadly understood prevention. This includes helplines, which play an essential role in anti-suicidal measures. The aim of this study was to obtain information about the experience of Polish helpline workers in communicating with older people in suicidal crisis. The study was conducted among 106 helpline workers from various helpline centres across Poland. It proved that helpline workers in Poland have considerable experience in communicating with elderly people in suicidal crisis, albeit the majority of respondents feel they need additional training in the area of broadly understood suicidology.

Highlights

In recent years, both in Poland and in other countries in Europe, there has been an increase in the elderly population (Hołyst, 2012)
The analyses considered the helpline workers’ length of service (Table 1, Table 2)
The papers only focus on the general principles of providing helpline support (Bejger, 2014; Kicińska, 2010; Sanders, 2004). An examination of both Polish and international suicidology literature confirms the innovative character of the study reported in this paper, which focused on the experience of helpline workers in communication with elderly people in suicidal crisis

Summary

Introduction

Both in Poland and in other countries in Europe, there has been an increase in the elderly population (Hołyst, 2012). The number of suicides or suicide attempts is growing among people aged over 65 (Hołyst, 2012). A major concern is to provide effective suicide prevention. This includes preand post-suicidal prevention, dedicated helplines being one of the methods. An example of research in this area is a study carried out in Italy based on the British Telehelp/Telecheck support line, used by 18 thousand people over 80, the majority of which are women (84%). A positive trend in suicide dynamics in this age group has been observed (Conwell et al, 2011), for example in the United Kingdom, where old people are keen to use helplines (Catton et al, 2010; Preston & Moore, 2019)

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Methods

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Discussion

Conclusion