Online interactive suicide support services: quality and accessibility
| Date | 29 November 2013 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/MHRJ-03-2013-0009 |
| Published date | 29 November 2013 |
| Pages | 226-239 |
| Author | Paul Best,Una Foye,Brian Taylor,Diane Hazlett,Roger Manktelow |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health |
Online interactive suicide support
services: quality and accessibility
Paul Best, Una Foye, Brian Taylor, Diane Hazlett and Roger Manktelow
Paul Best is a PhD Researcher,
based at School of Sociology
and Applied Social Studies,
University of Ulster, Derry, UK.
Una Foye is based at School
of Communication, University
of Ulster, Belfast, UK, where
Dr Diane Hazlett is the Head
of School of Communication.
Brian Taylor is a Professor of
Social Work and Dr Roger
Manktelow is a Lecturer in
Social Work, both are based at
School of Sociology and
Applied Social Studies,
University of Ulster, Derry, UK.
Abstract
Purpose – Little research has focused on the quality and availability of interactive online support services
retrieved through search engines. The purpose of this paper is twofold; first, to review and assess the
availability and accessibility of interactive online support available to individuals in suicidal crisis. Second, to
field test a new tool developed specifically to evaluate both the quality of online information and the quality of
interactive support.
Design/methodology/approach – A collection of six terms relating to suicidal distress were generated
and inputted across three major search engines (Google, Yahoo and Ask). Following initial exclusions, the
remaining web sites were analysed using the SPAT (Site, Publisher, Audience and Timeliness) tool and
recently developed COSAT (Crisis and Online Support Appraisal Tool) tool.
Findings – The quality of web sites retrieved was variable, with only 1.9 per cent deemed as high-quality
interactive support resources. Google had the greatest precision of searching, but ease of access through
search engines was generally limited. No significant difference was found in the quality of web sites located
on pages 1 or 2 of search engine results. Overall, community and voluntary sector web sites averaged
higher quality and interactive support rating’s compared to publicly funded web sites.
Research limitations/implications – The newly developed COSAT tool may provide a positive first step
towards a standardised measure of online quality and interactive support, although further testing and
validation is required with a larger sample size.
Originality/value – To the authors knowledge little research has focused on the quality and availability of
interactive online support services retrieved through search engines.
Keywords Internet, Crisis, Suicide, Help seeking, Interactive, Search engine
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
As the internet becomes a normative and established method for communication, the
emergence of web sites disseminating health information and support has steadily increased.
However, the establishment of so called “e-health” web sites has been heavily criticised
regarding their varying levels of quality (Kortum et al., 2008; Ofcom, 2010; Henderson et al.,
2012). With an ever-increasing quantity of information available, both users and professionals
are at risk of “information overload”, whereby their ability to locate and assess quality online
information is reduced (MacDonald et al., 2011).
Social stigma towards mental illness may discourage those experiencing distress from seeking
professional help (Bamford, 2005; Drost et al., 2011). This provides impetus for the further
development of online services for those unwilling or unable to seek face-to-face support. This
paper aims to investigate the quality and availability of online, interactive mental health services
for individuals seeking help in suicidal crisis, whilst pilot testing a new tool designed to allow
mental health professionals to appraise the “support quality” of these web sites. The growing
momentum towards online health service provision and support seeking through online
mediums necessitates the need to understand the accessibility and quality of these services.
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MENTAL HEALTH REVIEW JOURNAL
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VOL. 18 NO. 4 2013, pp. 226-239, CEmerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1361-9322 DOI 10.1108/MHRJ-03-2013-0009
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