Citation

Chen H, Mishara BL, Liu XX. Crisis 2010; 31(2): 109-112.

Affiliation

Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide and Euthanasia, Universite du Quebec a Montreal,Canada. School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, International Association for Suicide Prevention, Publisher Hogrefe Publishing)

DOI

10.1027/0227-5910/a000017

PMID

20418217

Abstract

Background: In China, where follow-up with hospitalized attempters is generally lacking, there is a great need for inexpensive and effective means of maintaining contact and decreasing recidivism. Aims: Our objective was to test whether mobile telephone message contacts after discharge would be feasible and acceptable to suicide attempters in China. Methods: Fifteen participants were recruited from suicide attempters seen in the Emergency Department in Wuhan, China, to participate in a pilot study to receive mobile telephone messages after discharge. All participants have access to a mobile telephone, and there is no charge for the user to receive text messages. Results: Most participants (12) considered the text message contacts an acceptable and useful form of help and would like to continue to receive them for a longer period of time. Conclusions: This suggests that, as a low-cost and quick method of intervention in areas where more intensive follow-up is not practical or available, telephone messages contacts are accessible, feasible, and acceptable to suicide attempters. We hope that this will inspire future research on regular and long-term message interventions to prevent recidivism in suicide attempters.

Language: en