Crisis line services: A 12‐month descriptive analysis of callers, call content, and referrals

Abstract

Crisis lines are a valuable community resource that anonymously and freely serve those in acute crisis. As a result of anonymity, it has been difficult to fully characterise crisis line services. However, appraising and improving crisis line services for the communities they serve is essential, even with the additional difficulty anonymity poses. This study seeks to increase our understanding of current crisis services and utilisation via a characterisation of various aspects of a United States crisis line service centre over 12-months including features of calls (e.g. call length), callers (e.g. victimisation history), and information provided to the caller (e.g. referrals). We examine five crisis lines totalling 5,001 calls from October 2018 to September 2019.Descriptive information is provided on call volume, patterns across time, caller characteristics, victimisation types, and referrals. Although we were unable to assess prospective outcomes due to anonymity, 99.5% of callers that were asked (61.35% of all calls; n = 3,068) reported the call as helpful. This provides an important overview of crisis line services and suggests they are a valuable community health resource serving a range of callers. Given the findings of the present study, we conclude with a discussion of recommendations and implications for community crisis line centres and future research.

Socioeconomic Predictors of Crisis and Clinical Pathways Among People Contacting a Mental Health Crisis Line

“…One reason for this is due to the anonymity of the service, which limits the ability to follow-up callers after contact. 22 Boness et al 23 examined various aspects of calls to a United States crisis line over a 12-month period, including call length, caller characteristics, and referrals. The authors reported that crisis line staff directed callers to external agencies for services/information not provided by the crisis line centre.…”