Public Relations as a Factor in the Prevention of Suicide

The Veteran Administrations Crisis Line

Bibliographic Data

ID21616403
AuthorsDouglas S Wilbur (0000-0001-5262-0920, Joint Special Operations University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume38
Issue11
Pages2461-2469
Publication date2023-09-19
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHealth Communication (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1041-0236 • E-ISSN: 1532-7027
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10410236.2022.2074936
PMID35816373
OpenAlexW4285011767
LanguageEN
References cited38

This study examines the effectiveness of the Veterans Administration's (VA) public relations and the effectiveness of advertisements of its suicide hotline, which is called the veterans crisis line (VCL). Using the organization-public relations theory (OPR) this study examined whether known failures of VA marketing campaigns for the VCL could be related to public relations factors. This study found that the VA suffers from a negative perception with veterans, and this translated into lower support for the VCL compared to another suicide hotline. This study concludes that ineffective public relations may indeed be a factor in the reluctance of veterans in crisis to call the VCL for life saving mental health support

Hotline · Injury prevention · Medical emergency · Mental health · Occupational safety and health · Perception · Poison control · Psychiatry · Public health · Suicide prevention · Communication in Education and Healthcare · Engineering · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Medicine · Mental Health via Writing · Nursing · Psychology · Public Relations and Crisis Communication · Social Psychology