Fildes Dave, Williams Kathryn, Bradford Sally, Grootemaat Pam, Kobel Conrad, Gordon Rob
Australian Health Services Research Institute, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia.
Lifeline Australia, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Crisis. 2022 Jan;43(1):46-52. doi: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000758. Epub 2021 Jan 21.
Australia's first short message service (SMS) crisis support service was launched by Lifeline Australia in July 2018. The pilot program was independently evaluated over a 240-day period. We aimed to examine the experiences of key staff employed in the Lifeline Text pilot and identify the skills and types of support required to deliver a high-quality SMS-based crisis support service. In total, 22 interviews were conducted with 14 Lifeline Text crisis supporters and in-shift supervisors (supervisors) at two time points in September 2018 and March 2019. A modified framework approach was adopted to undertake qualitative data analyses. Delivering crisis support via text was initially challenging as a result of the need to translate skills from telephone crisis support to the SMS platform. This was compounded by the high degree of suicidality of help-seekers and volatility in demand for the service. The independent evaluators were not involved in the design of the pilot. Lifeline text is providing an important and necessary service, using a novel mode of delivery in Australia. Maintaining service quality at peak demand, with many distressed and suicidal help-seekers, requires specialized training, experience, and exceptional skills.
澳大利亚首个短信危机支持服务由澳大利亚生命线组织于2018年7月推出。该试点项目在240天的时间里进行了独立评估。我们旨在考察生命线短信试点项目中关键工作人员的经历，并确定提供高质量基于短信的危机支持服务所需的技能和支持类型。2018年9月和2019年3月的两个时间点，共对14名生命线短信危机支持人员和轮班主管进行了22次访谈。采用了一种改进的框架方法进行定性数据分析。由于需要将电话危机支持技能转化到短信平台，最初通过短信提供危机支持具有挑战性。求助者的高自杀倾向和服务需求的波动使这一情况更加复杂。独立评估人员未参与试点项目的设计。澳大利亚生命线短信服务正在使用一种新颖的服务模式提供一项重要且必要的服务。在需求高峰期，面对众多痛苦和有自杀倾向的求助者，维持服务质量需要专门的培训、经验和非凡的技能。
