Age-Related Concerns of Male Veteran Callers to a Suicide Crisis Line |
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| Authors: | Deborah A. King Alisa A. O'Riley Caitlin Thompson Yeates Conwell Hua He Janet Kemp |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention, Department of Veterans Affairs Canandaigua Medical Center , Canandaigua , New York , USA;2. Department of Psychiatry , University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (URSMD) , Rochester , New York , USA Deborah.King@va.gov;4. Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention, Department of Veterans Affairs Canandaigua Medical Center , Canandaigua , New York , USA;5. Office of Mental Health, Department of Veterans Affairs Central Office , Washington , DC , USA;6. Department of Psychiatry , University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (URSMD) , Rochester , New York , USA;7. Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology , University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (URSMD) , Rochester , New York , USA |
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| Abstract: | In July 2007, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) partnered with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA) to create the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) in order to meet the unique needs of Veterans in distress. The current study utilized a mixed methods design to examine characteristics of male callers to the VCL. Results from qualitative analyses demonstrated that the majority of callers between April 1 and August 31, 2008 contacted the VCL with concerns related to mental health issues, suicide ideation, and substance abuse issues. Quantitative analyses demonstrated age differences associated with concerns presented by callers such that middle-aged and older callers were more likely to present with loneliness and younger callers were more likely to present with mental health concerns. The results of this study will help to inform future research designed to optimize the effectiveness of the VCL for suicide prevention in Veterans. |
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| Keywords: | crisis line hotline suicide veterans |
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