Suicide hotline has not led to increased mental health service access: Study

A recent study appears to show that the July 2022 launch of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has not broadened the availability of crisis services at mental health facilities in the U.S.

The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, analyzed trends in services from November 2021 through June 2023 and suggested that, while the number of facilities offering peer support services increased, other key crisis services such as mobile crisis response and psychiatric walk-in-services have decreased or remained stagnant. 

The study examined data from 15,623 licensed mental health treatment facilities and found that peer support services grew significantly, from 39% to 42%, after 988's rollout. However, psychiatric walk-in services saw a decrease, dropping from 32% to 29%. 

Additionally, mobile crisis-response and suicide-prevention services both showed small, but statistically significant, decreases from 22% to 21% and 69% to 68%, respectively.

Researchers also noted that, while the 988 lifeline aimed to improve access to mental health crisis care by providing a more accessible number for callers, the availability of community-based services has not kept pace with the demand generated by the initiative. 

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