The National Institute of Mental Health has awarded Dr. Jonathan Purtle, professor of public health policy and management, a four-year, $2.36 million grant (RF1MH145180) to study people’s experiences using the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
In July 2022, “988” became the new national dialing code for people to call, text, or chat when they are experiencing psychological distress. More than four years later, call volume has increased significantly, and the lifeline now receives about 8 million contacts per year. However, not much known about the quality of callers’ experiences using 988, as well as the knowledge, expectations, and intentions related to 988 among people at higher risk of suicide.
Pilot research conducted in 2023 by Purtle and his colleagues found that only 29 percent of adults with serious psychological distress who used 988 would be very likely to use it in the future, and that attitudes towards 988 and crisis help seeking vary across demographic groups. Moreover, 83 percent of adults who experienced and sought help for a crisis in the past year did not reach out to 988.
Through the new grant, the researchers will use surveys and interviews to collect information from people who have used 988, gauging whether certain factors are associated with positive or negative experiences. They will also study those at higher risk for suicide who may or may not have used 988 to better understand their knowledge of the service, intention to use it, and experience if they did use it. The researchers will compare these results with state-level factors—including how long people wait to connect with someone through 988 and how states finance suicide prevention and crisis mental health services—to examine how these factors might influence the experience of people using the lifeline.
“Our goal is to generate knowledge that will inform how 988’s services can be improved, as well as how to better market the lifeline to reach those most in need,” said Purtle.
The research will build on Purtle’s ongoing NIMH-funded work to study the implementation of the 988 Lifeline—and in particular, how 988 is funded by states and the impact of these policies on suicide deaths.