Calls to Island Helpline triple

Calls to the Island Helpline nearly tripled from April to June of 2017, according to figures provided by Health PEI.

The Helpline is a 24-hour phone service operated by a New Brunswick company under a contract with Health PEI. According to the Helpline website, the service offers "emotional support and crisis intervention to Islanders of all ages."

In April the Helpline received 115 calls, which officials say was, up until that point, a typical monthly total.

In May the service received 215 calls, and in June the number was 329.

Service was underutilized, says CMHA

The Canadian Mental Health Association says the increase coincides with its own promotional campaign and another from Health PEI.

"We felt it was being underutilized," said Pat Doyle, suicide prevention co-ordinator with the CMHA on P.E.I.

"If people can get support early on, upstream, before things become a crisis situation, well, we're alleviating suffering, right? We're getting those resources in place before things get worse, so how can that be a bad thing?"

But there is a downside to the increased utilization of the phone service. Doyle said her group is concerned about the number of Islanders who call but are unable to get through to an operator, and instead hear a recorded message instructing them to call back.

MLA says one person had to call four times

At a meeting of the standing committee on health and wellness Tuesday, PC MLA James Aylward said one woman told him last week she had to call the service four times before she got through.

"It's a concern anytime anybody reaches out for help, and their invitation for help goes unnoticed or unresponded to," said Doyle.

"We have that system there in place to help alleviate suffering, help prevent things from getting worse. That's why we flagged it with our partners at the crisis line so that they can take steps to improve the call response rate."

A spokesperson for Health PEI says concerns over missed calls were relayed to Chimo, the company that operates the Helpline. In response, Health PEI said Chimo have added more staff and volunteers to answer calls. Health PEI says it wants to know if Islanders continue to have difficulty getting through to an operator.

Health PEI provided detailed numbers for how many calls were placed to the Helpline from April through June and for what reasons, but did not provide a figure for how many callers were unable to reach an operator.

The CMHA said it had that information but was not authorized to share it.

Nearly half of calls deal with mental health

 According to the figures from Health PEI, slightly fewer than half the calls from April to June (47 per cent) were for mental health-related issues, including 26 suicide-related calls.

Other non-mental health related reasons people called the Helpline include:

• 36 calls related to basic needs (accommodations, employment, financial or legal issues, physical health)
• 28 calls regarding relationships (divorce/separation, family issues)
• 17 calls on sexual issues (sexual assault, sexual health, sexual identity, gender identity)

Health PEI said more than half the calls to the Island Helpline in this period were placed between the hours of 4 p.m. and midnight, and that more women used the service than men.

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