2024-05-10 09:49:59
Balance of two years since the implementation of the 024 telephone number for assistance to suicidal behavior by the Ministry of Health. Most of the calls have been made by women.
024, the telephone number that the Ministry of Health launched two years ago to provide professional assistance for suicidal behavior and prevent suicide, has answered a total of 260,033 calls, most of them made by women, and most of them at risk. medium to very high, including 5,668 attempts, 3.8 percent of the total.
Up to 12,846 of the total calls were referred to the 112 emergency service to provide urgent attention to people in crisis, according to data provided this Friday by the department directed by Mónica García when the service has been operating for just two years.
Data from two years of telephone number 024 against suicide
Specifically, 024 professionals assessed the risk of a total of 147,345 calls and, of them, they classified 14,250 as very low risk, 9.7 percent of the total, and another 36,708 (24.9%) as low risk.
Meanwhile, 47,454 were considered medium risk (32.2%); 31,270 medium-high risk (21.2%); 11,995 (8.1%) were high and 5,668 were suicide attempts, 3.8% of the total.
“This is a service that receives calls from people with suicidal ideation or from people close to them who need advice,” recalled Mental Health Commissioner Belén González.
A service that is also “global and direct accessibility”, which means that “anyone can call at any time.” “It is very valuable because we know that having support at the time of doubt saves lives; listening, feeling that there is someone on the other side is decisive in that situation and the Ministry will continue doing this response work when it is most needed. needs,” he guaranteed.
The profile: more women than men and between 40 and 59 years old
Four out of ten calls (39.1%) were made by women, and 32.3 percent by men; In another 13,983, the sex was not specified and 32 were classified as “others”.
By age groups, the first place is occupied by people between 50 and 59 years old (16.41%), followed by those between 40 and 49 years old (14.4%); 20 to 29 years (11%); 30 to 39 years old (8.87%); 60 to 69 (5.73%); 10 to 19 (3.87%); 70 to 79 (2.8%) and 80 to 89 (0.4%).
There were also calls from the 90-99 age group (a total of 45) and from children 5 to 9 years old (7).
In 148,446 calls, the senders were the users themselves – who may have made more than one, Health clarifies -; 18,472 were made by relatives; 5,200, for family members; 477, by professionals; 143, for the educational environment; and 13,859, by others.
During these two years, 024 has also received 23,419 silent calls and another 695 from Emergencies.
The Ministry has also offered the data by autonomous communities, although in this case until December 31, 2023, and only taking into account those of identified origin.
Under these premises, the highest percentages of answered calls have been recorded in Andalusia (19.3%), followed by the Community of Madrid (17.56%); Catalonia (14.97%) and the Valencian Community (10.1%).
Health now wants to know the reasons
Line 024, which since last year also includes a chat service with young people in mind, started on May 10, 2022 with the aim of reducing the level of emotional suffering and risk of suicidal behavior among users.
From the Commissioner of Mental Health they are doing “constant monitoring” to achieve improvements both in the quality of the service and in the care of the professionals – in this case from the Red Cross – who care for him.
But now, in this department they want the service to be “even more useful”, so they are going to study the possibility of collecting data that “will serve to understand the main reasons for suicidal ideation in the population”, explained Belén González.
The Commissioner also considers introducing the possibility of recommending social and community resources in cases that require it for the improvement of people who use this service in the face of suicide. telephone 024.
The figures, its manager emphasizes, “represent what is necessary about the service”: suicide remains the first cause of external death after having registered a new maximum in 2022 of 4,227 deaths, which reflects an increase of 5.6 percent. percent compared to 2021 and 19.5 percent compared to 2018, when 3,539 were counted.
The Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, during the presentation, two years ago. by the Ministry of Health of the 024 line for attention to suicidal behavior, an initiative that will begin to operate in the near future with a group of psychologists and Red Cross specialists on the other end of the phone and that ensures “confidentiality, accessibility and immediacy in the response” of the person served. EFE/ Sergio Pérez
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