National Helpline Research Articles

French national helpline “stop” for minor-attracted persons: First findings

ObjectivesPreventing minor-attracted persons from acting on their impulses is a significant public health concern. To address this, the STOP telephone helpline was established nationwide in France in January 2021. This service acts as a bridge, connecting callers with their nearest CRIAVS (resource centers for professionals working with sex offenders) where they can speak with a healthcare professional who can guide them toward appropriate care if needed. Our study is a detailed look at the STOP service's activity from January 1st, 2021, to December 31st, 2022, covering a span of 24 months. MethodWe developed a structured approach to collecting data for analysis. Data were extracted from the centralized database of the STOP service, allowing for the collection of quantitative variables and qualitative variables. ResultsOver the study period, there were 5442 calls made to the service. After filtering out calls that were unsuccessful or too short (mostly under 5minutes), we analyzed 369 records. Among these, 79.1% were first-time callers, with 73.3% of them admitting to being attracted to children, a group which predominantly consisted of men. Notably, 46.7% of callers expressing an attraction to children were referred to further care. In total, 72.6% of callers learned about the service through media channels. ConclusionAnalysis revealed that the STOP service was primarily utilized by the intended audience–minor-attracted persons. The gradual decline in call volume over time and the reliance on media for awareness highlight the importance of widespread publicity. The findings from our study, spanning twenty-four months of the STOP service's operation, highlight the value of having such a platform available to facilitate access to mental health support for minor-attracted persons. They emphasize the need for increased communication efforts to promote the STOP service and call for further data analysis to enhance its effectiveness.

Psychosocial and mental health concerns among elderly people during COVID-19: Findings from national helpline in India

ABSTRACT Background: WHO reported that the epidemic SARS-CoV-2 spread was a public health emergency of international tension in January 2020 and pandemic in March 2020. In this regard, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) launched a national helpline with the support of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for addressing psychosocial issues and mental health concerns of people during the COVID-19 pandemic. The recorded calls made to the National Psychosocial Support helpline were analysed to elicit the psychosocial issues seen among the elderly during the pandemic. Methods: The data of 70 randomly selected helpline callers were collected by using the sociodemographic data sheet and the semistructured questionnaire. The study employed descriptive research design. Results: In total, 71.1% of callers belonged to the 60-70 years’ age group. 57.1% of callers had approached the helpline by themselves. 38.6% of the callers had reported a preexisting mental illness, of which the majority (33%) reported anxiety and/or sleeplessness. 28.6% of callers complained of comorbid medical issues. Interventions provided to the callers were in the form of supportive psychotherapy (84.28%), the COVID-19-related information (72.85%), referral services (62.9%), lifestyle modifications (41.42%), and behavioural activation (35.71%). Conclusion: Study findings indicate that the older population encountered several mental health issues during COVID-19, and the telephonic interventions were the most feasible, accessible, and helpful method to reach out to them.

Digitalisation of gambling harm? Gambling consumption, negative consequences, and clinical characteristics among Swedish help-seekers

Gambling is connected to a range of harms and negative consequences. Gambling is also evolving at a fast pace, particularly in digital environments. Understanding the effects of this on-going change and digitalisation of gambling markets requires systematic measuring of gambling consumption patterns, clinical characteristics, and gambling-related harms.The current study compares two cohorts of help-seekers for gambling in Sweden (2019; 2023), recruited via the Swedish national helpline. The aim is to assess harms and consumption across the two cohorts at a time of increased offer of digital gambling in Sweden. We used eight different screens to measure gambling-related behaviours and consequences, including the Gambling Disorder Identification Test (GDIT). Results were analysed using descriptive statistics, and differences across the two cohorts were tested for statistical significance.The results show that across 2019–2023, gambling consumption has intensified. Online EGMs are by far the most prevalent form of gambling among help-seekers. We also found that the experience of co-morbidities as well as most gambling-related harms were common in both cohorts, with some statistically significant increases in 2023. Harms were more commonly experienced amongst those who engaged in online EGM gambling in comparison to those who did not.The results suggest that the digitalisation of gambling and gambling products appears to be associated with a variety of harmful consequences. The results also show the importance of systematic and comprehensive measurement to capture different severity levels of harms and their wide range amongst those who gamble.

Application of the solution-focused brief strategies via telephone for family caregivers of persons with dementia: the Alzheimer’s Association National Helpline

Objectives Nearly 75% of persons living with dementia (PLWD) in the US live at home and are cared for by informal family members who have limited access to supportive and accessible services, indicating an increased need for these types of services (Alzheimer’s Association, 2023). The Alzheimer’s Association call centers offer free telephone care consultations, but it currently remains unclear which types of brief telephone support benefit caregivers. This study compares outcomes of participants who received traditional care consultation calls via the Alzheimer’s Association National Helpline with care consultation calls from Helpline staff trained in Solution-Focused Brief Strategies (SFBS), a client-centered evidence- and resource-based approach. Method Sequential callers were randomly assigned to the “traditional” or “SFBS” care consultation groups and were assessed at the time of call (baseline) and post-call (T1). The outcomes of interest were general self-efficacy (GSE), self-efficacy in managing emotions (PROMIS), caregiver mastery, therapeutic alliance, and goal setting. Results Of over 500 callers, callers receiving the SFBS scored higher on therapeutic alliance and goal-setting metrics, such as greater sense of collaboration on goals (effect size = 0.280, p = 0.0005, significant with Bonferroni correction), mutual agreement with care consultant on goals (effect size = 0.418, p < 0.0001, significant with Bonferroni correction), and believing the way the problem was resolved was correct (effect size = 0.286, p = 0.0007, significant with Bonferroni correction) than those receiving the traditional care consultation. Both groups reported improvements in the PROMIS measure, but there were no differences between groups. There were no significant differences in GSE or caregiver mastery scores between groups. Conclusion This study provides evidence for the effectiveness of the integration of SFBS in dementia care consultation calls as part of telephone-based supportive services for dementia caregivers.

Harmful types of gambling: changes and emerging trends in longitudinal helpline data.

Gambling products differ in terms of their harm potential. Products are also constantly developing and changing. However, little research has addressed changes and trends in the types of gambling that are associated with harms. The current study explores trends in the gambling product categories identified as harmful in longitudinal helpline data from three Nordic countries. We use data collected by national helplines in Denmark (StopSpillet), Finland (Peluuri) and Sweden (Stödlinjen) in their daily operations (N = 46 646). The data consist of information collected on gamblers and concerned significant others who have contacted these helplines between January 2019 and December 2022. We analyse which gambling products are mentioned as harmful by clients. The analysis uses linear regression with the interaction term (country) times time regressed over the outcome variable (proportion per month). The results show that an increased share of contacts concern online gambling. Online casino products have become the most harmful category across contexts. The share of reported harms from online betting and new emerging online forms is also increasing. The share of land-based products as a reported source of harms has decreased across 2019-22. The results suggest that online gamlbing environments, and particularly online casino products, are associated with increasing harms to help-seekers. The harmfulness of different gambling products may not be stable, but change over time. Further harm prevention efforts are needed to address the online gambling field, including emerging formats.

Consequences of COVID-19 for victims of domestic violence in calls to the Finnish national Nollalinja helpline

ABSTRACT Domestic violence (DV) is a serious social and global problem and a human rights violation, and DV is exacerbated during periods of social crisis. This study elucidates how COVID-19 has affected life circumstances, changes in experienced violence, and seeking and receiving help through public services, using data from calls placed to the national Nollalinja helpline. The data are based on anonymous Nollalinja service tracking from April 2020 to December 2020. During that period, Nollalinja encountered 170 COVID-19 related DV calls. We identified four themes in the relationship between DV and COVID-19: (1) isolation and strained conditions; (2) escalation of violence; (3) difficulties and prolongation to seek help; (4) difficulties and prolongation obtaining help. The results were also interpreted by using an ecological model. At the individual level, COVID-19 and its associated restrictions affected emotions and increased problems. At the relationship level, the consequences were noticeably more time spent with the perpetrator of DV, increased exposure to the violence, and decreased opportunities to obtain help. At the community level, the consequences were prolongation and difficulties obtaining help. At the societal level, the restrictive measures and recommendations to minimize the transmission of COVID-19 increased the severity of DV in society at large. These results highlight important observations about points of weakness in the services during the pandemics. These findings can be used to help improve the training for professionals, services and the provision of aid for victims of DV during and after the social crisis.

Violence in pandemic times: The dynamic relationship between COVID‐19 and intimate partner violence

AbstractIntimate partner violence (IPV) increased during the COVID‐19 lockdown, but few studies use national data and explore underlying mechanisms. To address this gap, we study the changes in IPV during the first ten months of the pandemic in Peru. We study the number of calls received by the national helpline for domestic violence victims, Línea 100, using an event study model. Results show that during lockdown, IPV calls experienced nonlinear variations. Calls for psychological violence showed the most significant variation, followed by those for physical violence, while no significant changes for sexual violence were identified. Prior history of violence and alcohol or drug consumption appears to be the most important underlying mechanisms. Results suggest that policy efforts during acute health and economic crises should aim at risk factors that typically predict violence and prioritize rapidly connecting survivors to quality services.

Gambling helpline contacts during COVID-19-related availability restrictions: an interrupted time series analysis

ObjectivesGambling causes significant public health harms that are addressed in the help service network. Helplines are the most widely used service among those experiencing harms. The COVID-19 pandemic changed the global gambling landscape. This study assesses the effect of COVID-19-related restrictions on help-seeking for gambling via helplines. Study designWe analysed data of national helplines in Sweden, Finland, and Denmark before and during the pandemic. The countries differed in their restrictions on the availability and accessibility of gambling during the pandemic. MethodsWe performed an interrupted time series analysis of contact and web traffic data to helplines in Sweden, Finland, and Denmark before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2017–2021). We also compared forecasted time series to the actual data to assess change. ResultsThe results show diverging patterns across the three countries. In Sweden, the number of helpline contacts remained stable throughout COVID-19, but there was an increasing trend in website visits. In Finland, the number of contacts declined during the first wave but rebounded during the second wave. Website visitation increased moderately. In Denmark, the number of contacts to the helpline soared over the COVID-19 period. ConclusionsThe diverging results suggest that help-seeking behaviour is likely to be impacted by differing policy approaches to gambling availability and limit-setting, visibility of helplines, and the prevalence of different forms of gambling in the three Nordic countries before and during the pandemic. This has implications for a preventive public health approach for gambling.

Why and how should high school students learn Basic Life Support?

Introduction:&#x0D; Cardiovascular deaths (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality in India. Basic Life Support (BLS) training of target groups can help in reducing mortality and morbidity in out of hospital cardiac arrests. High school students are uniquely positioned for this training through a structured learning program, but very is known about high school students’ awareness of BLS.&#x0D; Aim: This study aims to understand the awareness about BLS and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) among high school students.&#x0D; Methods: A questionnaire-based survey about awareness and willingness to learn BLS and CPR was sent online to 120 students of an urban high school.&#x0D; Results: A total of 114 students with a mean age of 15.2 +1.8 years responded. 48 students were male (42%) and 66 students were female (58%). Only 38% participants had previously heard about BLS. A vast majority of students correctly answered the full form of BLS (88%), Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) (94%), and CPR (99%). However, relatively few students (10%) had a BLS-certified family member and 64% of students chose the wrong option for national medical emergency helpline. Despite these numbers, this student population indicated willingness for training in BLS (79%) and willingness to perform CPR in future (78%). When asked who they would prefer to be trained in BLS by, 67.5% believed healthcare workers would be most appropriate.&#x0D; Conclusion: Although there is an overall lack of awareness of BLS amongst high schoolers, they show signs of willingness to learn BLS and apply their skills in potential lifesaving situations.

A Rapid Systematic Review of the Prevalence of Suicide and Self-Harm Behaviors in Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: COVID-19 has caused psychological, social, and physical isolation in adolescents resulting in varying rates of suicidal behavior and self-harm. Aims: We investigated the pandemic's impact on adolescent suicidal behavior and self-harm by reviewing the existing literature. Methods: We searched PubMed using keywords: adolescent, suicide, suicidal behavior, self-harm, prevalence, and COVID-19 and included studies reporting primary data only. Results: Of the 551 studies identified, we included 39 studies in the final analysis. Two of the six high-quality population-based suicide registry studies reported increased suicide rates during the pandemic. Seven of fifteen emergency department-based studies out of which four were of high quality and three high-quality population-based health registry studies reported increased self-harm. A few school and community-based surveys and national helpline data also reported an increase in suicidal behavior or self-harm. Limitations: Methodological heterogeneity of the included studies. Conclusions: There is wide variation in study methodology, population, settings, and age groups in the included studies. Suicidal behavior and self-harm were increased in specific study settings and adolescent populations during the pandemic. More methodologically rigorous research is needed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on adolescent suicidal behavior and self-harm.

The evaluation of a brief ICBT program with therapist support for individuals with gambling problems in the context of a gambling helpline: a randomized pilot trial

Background and aimsGambling helplines are a natural way of first contact for individuals with gambling problems. However, few studies have evaluated the feasibility and effectiveness of brief interventions in a gambling helpline. To reduce this knowledge gap, this study evaluated the feasibility of an online cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) program in the context of a gambling helpline as a first step towards a full-scale RCT.DesignThis is a two-group parallel randomized controlled pilot trial where the participants were randomized to either a brief four-module ICBT program (n = 22) or a control group (n = 21). Participants were followed up weekly during the intervention, post intervention, and 6 weeks upon completion of intervention.ParticipantsA total of 43 self-identified individuals with gambling problems (scoring 3 or more on the Problem Gambling Severity Index) were recruited via the Swedish national gambling helpline, 59% females, mean age 43.7 years.MeasurementsFeasibility of the procedure and intervention (i.e., recruitment pace, attrition, program engagement, and satisfaction) were the primary outcomes; treatment effect (net gambling losses) was the secondary outcome.ResultsApproximately 2 participants per week were randomized, and retention was low, with 47% lost to follow-up at the 6-week follow-up time-point. Most participants engaged in the online modules (86%) and rated their overall satisfaction with the program as high (7.5 out of 10). Both groups decreased their weekly gambling losses at both follow-up time-points, but the between-group comparisons were inconclusive.ConclusionIt is not advisable to conduct a full-scale RCT based on the results from this pilot study. Future studies in a gambling helpline should consider interventions that are more suited to be incorporated in a gambling helpline and identify ways to increase participant engagement.Trial registrationThe study was retrospectively registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (ID: NCT04609007, 29/10/2020).

The Communicative-Relational Operating Model of the Italian National Institute of Health for an Effective Telephone Intervention in Public Health, Structured on Basic Counselling Skills.

Communication has a crucial role in public health, because it becomes an essential component of prevention; it is also a proactive tool in health promotion. From a planning perspective, it is appropriate to use communication means that can help the bidirectional communication process, such as face-to-face communication and telephone communication. In relation to this, the Italian National Institute of Health has developed the "Modello Operativo Comunicativo-Relazionale" (the "Communicative-Relational Operating Model"). It is based on the fundamental skills of the counselling, this gives a protocol to the health professionals that is replicable and organized and it allows health professionals to carry out a telephone communication that is efficient with the user through technical-scientific and communication-relational skills. The goal is to answer in a customized way to the various users' health needs. The Operating Model was created by experts of the National AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections Helpline of the Operational Unit of Psycho-Socio-Behavioural Research, Communication, Training, of the Infectious Diseases Department. Later, the Operating Model was proposed to the experts of the Helplines in the National Centre on Addictions and Doping and the National Helpline of the National Centre for Rare Diseases in the National Institute of Health that integrated this method into their telephone approach. The Operating Model illustrated above was applied to several helplines of the National Institute of Health as an example of correct scientific information, updated and customized on sexual transmitted infections, addictions and rare diseases. This article aims to illustrate the Operating Model, the theoretical prerequisites that subtend it and its possible application in the different public health structures that use the telephone for a professional relationship with their users.

The Communicative-Relational Operating Model of the Italian National Institute of Health for an Effective Telephone Intervention in Public Health, Structured on Basic Counselling Skills.

Communication has a crucial role in public health, because it becomes an essential component of prevention; it is also a proactive tool in health promotion. From a planning perspective, it is appropriate to use communication means that can help the bidirectional communication process, such as face-to-face communication and telephone communication. In relation to this, the Italian National Institute of Health has developed the "Modello Operativo Comunicativo-Relazionale" (the "Communicative-Relational Operating Model"). It is based on the fundamental skills of the counselling, this gives a protocol to the health professionals that is replicable and organized and it allows health professionals to carry out a telephone communication that is efficient with the user through technical-scientific and communication-relational skills. The goal is to answer in a customized way to the various users' health needs. The Operating Model was created by experts of the National AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections Helpline of the Operational Unit of Psycho-Socio-Behavioural Research, Communication, Training, of the Infectious Diseases Department. Later, the Operating Model was proposed to the experts of the Helplines in the National Centre on Addictions and Doping and the National Helpline of the National Centre for Rare Diseases in the National Institute of Health that integrated this method into their telephone approach. The Operating Model illustrated above was applied to several helplines of the National Institute of Health as an example of correct scientific information, updated and customized on sexual transmitted infections, addictions and rare diseases. This article aims to illustrate the Operating Model, the theoretical prerequisites that subtend it and its possible application in the different public health structures that use the telephone for a profes-sional relationship with their users.

Pilot randomised controlled trial of a remotely delivered online intervention for adolescent mental health problems in India: lessons learned about low acceptability and feasibility during the COVID-19 pandemic.

'POD Adventures' is a gamified problem-solving intervention delivered via smartphone app, and supported by non-specialist counsellors for a target population of secondary school students in India during the COVID-19 pandemic. To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of undertaking a randomised controlled trial of POD Adventures when delivered online with telephone support from counsellors. We conducted a parallel, two-arm, individually randomised pilot-controlled trial with 11 secondary schools in Goa, India. Participants received either the POD Adventures intervention delivered over 4 weeks or usual care comprising information about local mental health services and national helplines. Outcomes were assessed at two timepoints: baseline and 6 weeks post-randomisation. Seventy-nine classroom sensitisation sessions reaching a total of 1575 students were conducted. Ninety-two self-initiated study referrals (5.8%) were received, but only 11 participants enrolled in the study. No intervention arm participants completed the intervention. Outcomes at 6 weeks were not available for intervention arm participants (n = 5), and only four control arm participants completed outcomes. No qualitative interviews or participant satisfaction measures were completed because participants could not be reached by the study team. Despite modifications to address barriers arising from COVID-19 restrictions, online delivery was not feasible in the study context. Low recruitment and missing feasibility and acceptability data make it difficult to draw conclusions about intervention engagement and indicative clinical outcomes. Prior findings showing high uptake, adherence and engagement with POD Adventures when delivered in a school-based context suggest that an online study and delivery posed the biggest barriers to study participation and engagement.

Using Vocal Characteristics To Classify Psychological Distress in Adult Helpline Callers: Retrospective Observational Study

Elevated psychological distress has demonstrated impacts on individuals' health. Reliable and efficient ways to detect distress are key to early intervention. Artificial intelligence has the potential to detect states of emotional distress in an accurate, efficient, and timely manner. The aim of this study was to automatically classify short segments of speech obtained from callers to national suicide prevention helpline services according to high versus low psychological distress and using a range of vocal characteristics in combination with machine learning approaches. A total of 120 telephone call recordings were initially converted to 16-bit pulse code modulation format. Short variable-length segments of each call were rated on psychological distress using the distress thermometer by the responding counselor and a second team of psychologists (n=6) blinded to the initial ratings. Following this, 24 vocal characteristics were initially extracted from 40-ms speech frames nested within segments within calls. After highly correlated variables were eliminated, 19 remained. Of 19 vocal characteristics, 7 were identified and validated as predictors of psychological distress using a penalized generalized additive mixed effects regression model, accounting for nonlinearity, autocorrelation, and moderation by sex. Speech frames were then grouped using k-means clustering based on the selected vocal characteristics. Finally, component-wise gradient boosting incorporating these clusters was used to classify each speech frame according to high versus low psychological distress. Classification accuracy was confirmed via leave-one-caller-out cross-validation, ensuring that speech segments from individual callers were not used in both the training and test data. The sample comprised 87 female and 33 male callers. From an initial pool of 19 characteristics, 7 vocal characteristics were identified. After grouping speech frames into 2 separate clusters (correlation with sex of caller, Cramer's V =0.02), the component-wise gradient boosting algorithm successfully classified psychological distress to a high level of accuracy, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 97.39% (95% CI 96.20-98.45) and an area under the precision-recall curve of 97.52 (95% CI 95.71-99.12). Thus, 39,282 of 41,883 (93.39%) speech frames nested within 728 of 754 segments (96.6%) were classified as exhibiting low psychological distress, and 71455 of 75503 (94.64%) speech frames nested within 382 of 423 (90.3%) segments were classified as exhibiting high psychological distress. As the probability of high psychological distress increases, male callers spoke louder, with greater vowel articulation but with greater roughness (subharmonic depth). In contrast, female callers exhibited decreased vocal clarity (entropy), greater proportion of signal noise, higher frequencies, increased breathiness (spectral slope), and increased roughness of speech with increasing psychological distress. Individual caller random effects contributed 68% to risk reduction in the classification algorithm, followed by cluster configuration (23.4%), spectral slope (4.4%), and the 50th percentile frequency (4.2%). The high level of accuracy achieved suggests possibilities for real-time detection of psychological distress in helpline settings and has potential uses in pre-emptive triage and evaluations of counseling outcomes. ANZCTR ACTRN12622000486729; https://www.anzctr.org.au/ACTRN12622000486729.aspx.

Psycho-Social Support Helplines Calls During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Turkey

The necessary measures taken to limit the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have had an unfortunate negative effect on the mental well-being of people across the world. The pandemic affected the service delivery of mental health services in Turkey. Unlike many countries, that made use of digital health services and of telephone helplines to respond to increased need for information and support, Turkey had no prior experience with national mental health helplines. It established a national-wide helpline in a short time and responded to calls for information and support. This study looks at the helpline establishment, support given, reasons for calls and referrals, for a period of 12 months. Top reasons for calls included COVID-19 infection or loss of relative, anxiety and need for information. The helplines were essential at the beginning of the pandemic to respond to the need for information and support.

National COVID-19 lockdown and trends in help-seeking for violence against children in Zimbabwe: an interrupted time-series analysis

BackgroundAn estimated 1.8 billion children live in countries where COVID-19 disrupted violence prevention and response. It is important to understand how government policies to contain COVID-19 impacted children’s ability to seek help, especially in contexts where there was limited formal help-seeking prior to the pandemic. We aimed to quantify how the national lockdown in Zimbabwe affected helpline calls for violence against children, estimated the number of calls that would have been received had the lockdown not occurred and described characteristics of types of calls and callers before and after the national lockdown.MethodsWe used an interrupted time series design to analyse the proportion of violence related calls (17,913 calls out of 57,050) to Childline Zimbabwe’s national child helpline between 2017 to 2021. We applied autoregressive integrated moving average regression (ARIMA) models to test possible changes in call trends before and after the March 2020 lockdown and forecasted how many calls would have been received in the absence of lockdown. In addition, we examined call characteristics before and after lockdown descriptively.ResultsThe proportion of violence related calls decreased in the 90 days after the lockdown and subsequently returned to pre-COVID-19 levels. We estimate that 10.3% (95% confidence interval [CI] 6.0–14.6%) more violence related calls would have occurred in this period had there not been a lockdown. Violence was increasingly reported as occurring in children’s households, with fewer reports from children and formal child protection actors.ConclusionsLockdowns dramatically change everyday life and strain populations, which is unlikely to reduce violence prevalence but may reduce help-seeking. The three months after COVID-19 lockdowns may be key time periods when help-seeking for violence decreases drastically. Policy makers should ensure that in-person and remote services support help-seeking. Interventions and campaigns may additionally want to target adult female family members in encouraging reporting of suspected violence cases when they occur within households and are perpetuated by other family members. We suggest a composite approach of scaling-up remote reporting mechanisms that are accessible and geographically well-distributed, establishing non-traditional sites for help seeking within communities and continuing limited in-person home visitation for known cases of violence.

Implementation and evaluation of a National Bereavement Support line in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland.

This study describes the design, implementation and evaluation of a national bereavement helpline developed as proactive tiered response to immediate be reavement care during the COVID pandemic, operated in partnership between a national charity and the National Health Service. The service was based on Psychological First Aid principles adapted to integrate bereavement education. Its aim was to provide asupportive compassionate listening service, education advice resources and sign posting to community services. Two independent psychologist were commissioned to undertake a retrospective service evaluation of six months of the operation of the line, using a volunteer survey, interviews and line usage data. Results show that the line is meeting a need, PFA + Bereavement is providing a useful framework for service delivery, and there is good adherence to the model. Volunteers are experiencing working on the line as challenging but rewarding. Supervision and debriefing are essential for volunteer well being and confidence. Approximately 10% of callers were referred onto other services. Management report that they good oversight of governance issues and are planning for the future development, and funding of the line for the next two years.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Calls to a National Suicide Prevention Hotline in Taiwan: An Analysis of Time Trend and Characteristics of Calls

We investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on call volumes and call characteristics using data from a national crisis helpline. Data were extracted for 215,066 calls to Taiwan’s national suicide prevention hotline (January 2018–May 2020). We used negative binomial regression to investigate changes in the weekly number of calls during the early period of the COVID-19 outbreak (January 21, 2020–May 25, 2020), relative to that expected according to the pre-pandemic trend. The call characteristics during the pandemic period (February 18, 2020–May 31, 2020) were compared between COVID-19 related vs unrelated calls. Higher-than-expected call volumes started from the 6th week of the pandemic and reached a peak in the 14th week, which was 38% (rate ratio = 1.38, 95% confidence interval 1.26–1.51) higher than that expected based on the pre-pandemic trend. The higher-than-expected call volumes were mainly attributable to higher-than-expected calls from non-suicidal and male callers. Calls in which COVID-19 was mentioned (13.2%) were more likely to be from male and first-time callers, occur outside 12 am–6 am, last less than 5 min, and were less likely to be from callers who had previous suicide attempts, recent suicidal ideation or suicide plans or actions than COVID-19 unrelated calls. Callers who made COVID-19 related calls were more likely to request information than other callers. Crisis helplines should strategically adapt to the increased need and callers’ specific concerns related to the outbreak.

Mental Health Presentations Across Health Care Settings During the First 9 Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic in England: Retrospective Observational Study.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented impact on the day-to-day lives of people, with several features potentially adversely affecting mental health. There is growing evidence of the size of the impact of COVID-19 on mental health, but much of this is from ongoing population surveys using validated mental health scores.ObjectiveThis study investigated the impact of the pandemic and control measures on mental health conditions presenting to a spectrum of national health care services monitored using real-time syndromic surveillance in England.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective observational descriptive study of mental health presentations (those calling the national medical helpline, National Health Service [NHS] 111; consulting general practitioners [GPs] in and out-of-hours; calling ambulance services; and attending emergency departments) from January 1, 2019, to September 30, 2020. Estimates for the impact of lockdown measures were provided using an interrupted time series analysis.ResultsMental health presentations showed a marked decrease during the early stages of the pandemic. Postlockdown, attendances for mental health conditions reached higher than prepandemic levels across most systems—a rise of 10% compared to that expected for NHS 111 and 21% for GP out-of-hours service—while the number of consultations to GP in-hours service was 13% lower compared to the same time previous year. Increases were observed in calls to NHS 111 for sleep problems.ConclusionsThese analyses showed marked changes in the health care attendances and prescribing for common mental health conditions across a spectrum of health care provision, with some of these changes persisting. The reasons for such changes are likely to be complex and multifactorial. The impact of the pandemic on mental health may not be fully understood for some time, and therefore, these syndromic indicators should continue to be monitored.