“Put your personality into the call”: A qualitative interview study illuminating strategies for improving men’s engagement on crisis helplines

TL;DR

This study explores how men engage with crisis helpline counsellors and identifies strategies to improve their connection and support.

Contribution

The study provides new insights into men's experiences and preferences for crisis helpline interactions.

Findings

Men value authentic connections with counsellors during helpline calls.

Creating space for personal narratives and referrals improves engagement.

Gender-sensitive approaches are needed to enhance crisis helpline services for men.

Abstract

Crisis telephone helplines are an integral part of community suicide prevention. Despite high male suicide rates, men’s experiences of these services are poorly understood. The current study explored men’s perspectives of their interactions with helpline counsellors to understand how their engagement on helplines can be enhanced.

Sixteen men (19–71 years) who had previously used a mental health or crisis helpline in Australia completed individual semi-structured interviews about their experiences. Data were analysed using interpretive descriptive methodologies.

Two themes derived from the data related to how men engaged with counsellors on helpline services. First, men emphasized the importance of helpline counsellors creating and maintaining an authentic connection across the call, providing suggestions for strategies to secure connection. Second, men discussed how counsellors can facilitate outcomes through offering space for their narratives and aiding in referrals to other support services when required.

Findings highlight the value of crisis helplines for men’s suicide prevention services while identifying target areas to improve engagement. We discuss implications for the findings including suggestions for gender-sensitive care within crisis helplines.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-024-19242-x.