No abstract

Suicide is a major global health problem with more than 80 0,0 0 0 deaths each year. It is the leading cause of death amongst the youth and they are always the ones who are difficult to engage [ 1 , 2 ]. Suicide and crisis hotlines are generally considered to be efficient and viable mechanisms by which to respond to the needs of suicidal individuals and those in mental health crisis, and direct them to suitable resources [3]. Young people have reported finding online and mobile interventions to be acceptable, low effort, and useful [4]. Most importantly, online support allows young people to remain anonymous and thus reduce the risk of being identified and stigmatized [5]. Given the current lack of engagement of young people with suicide crisis hotlines, and their preference for social media, Hong Kong has launched an innovative online crisis support service model Jockey Club Online Youth Emotional Support-Open Up to better engage young people in distress [6]. The Open Up was launched in October 2018 to provide the first known textbased, synchronous online counselling and crisis intervention service in Hong Kong targeting young people aged 11-35 [6]. The service was co-created by three local service providers (Caritas Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, and The Boys' & Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong), and one academic research team (the Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong). The initiative was funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. The unique features of Open Up include : (i) one online chat platform , the five incoming channels (FB messenger, SMS, WeChat, WhatsApp, and the official web portal) are integrated and unified into one platform with a service operation control panel consoli-* Corresponding author.

No abstract

No abstract