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Preventing suicide among boys and men project

The preventing suicide among boys and men project is a part of a five-year Million Minds Research Fund (MMRF) project between the Centre of Mental Health, University of Melbourne (Lead Investigator Professor Jane Pirkis), Orygen, and Lifeline Australia.

Project Summary

The Preventing suicide among boys and men project is a five-year National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Million Minds Research Fund (MMRF) project between the Centre of Mental Health, University of Melbourne (Lead Investigator Professor Jane Pirkis), Orygen, and Lifeline Australia.

The project commenced in 2020 and is anticipated to end in 2025.

The project aims to create, implement and evaluate a professional development module for Lifeline to further upskill Crisis Supporters in engaging with and responding to male callers within Lifeline's care framework using a randomised controlled trial. 

Recent publications

“I Called When I Was at My Lowest" Australian Men's Experiences of Crisis Helplines 

Trail, K., Wilson, M. J., Rice, S. M., Hunt, T., Pirkis, J., & Seidler, Z. E. (2022). Available at https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159143  

  • This paper reports on an online survey which asked men open- and closed-ended questions about their experiences of crisis helpline use. 
  • 100 (14.6%) of the men surveyed reported using a crisis helpline. These men were more likely to be unemployed and in younger age brackets than those not using helplines.
  • Men using helplines were also more likely to report experiencing stressors related to COVID-19, including financial stress and job loss, perceived impact on mental health and relationship breakdown.
  • Men’s responses to open-ended questions revealed varied experiences of helplines, with men shedding light on how their interaction with a counsellor, the structure of services and their expectations of the service impacted their experience.

Conducting research in crisis helpline settings: Common challenges and proposed solutions. 

Trail, K., Baptiste, P. J., Hunt, T., & Brooks, A. (2022). Available at https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000858  

  • This editorial describes ethical and practical challenges to conducting research, especially Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs), in crisis helpline settings, and proposes solutions to these challenges. 
  • Ethical challenges include the risk of harm to suicidal people, their capacity to provide informed consent and concerns around researcher liability. Consequently, high-risk individuals are often excluded from research. The use of appropriate protocols and safety measures can facilitate research into the needs of suicidal people. In Australia, the need for consent can be waived, provided certain conditions are met.
  • Practical challenges include outcome measurement and gaining sufficiently large sample sizes. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems can be used to allow participants to complete short self-report measures. Conducting research with nationwide services like Lifeline provides access to large numbers of potential participants.
  • High-quality, reliable research in crisis helplines is crucial to understanding and improving the impact of suicide prevention interventions in this setting.