TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluation of the Safety and Design of Community Internet Resources for Veteran Suicide Prevention
AU - Chen, Jason I.
AU - Mastarone, Ginnifer L.
AU - Ambrosino, Santisia A.
AU - Anzalone, Nicole
AU - Carlson, Kathleen F.
AU - Dobscha, Steven K.
AU - Teo, Alan R.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was completed under the auspices of a VA Advanced Fellowship in Health Services Research & Development (TPH 98-000-02) funded by the VA Office of Academic Affiliations. This material is also the result of work supported with resources and the use of facilities at the VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR.The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States government.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Hogrefe Publishing.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Background: Recent data show many veterans who die by suicide are not currently engaged in mental health care. Veterans frequently use the Internet for health information and may look online for community resources when in distress. However, little is known about their design characteristics. Aim: To evaluate the design and content of community, veteran suicide prevention websites. Method: Community websites focused on veteran suicide prevention were gathered through Internet searches using standardized search terms. Websites that met the inclusion criteria (n = 9) were evaluated for adherence to suicide safe messaging, usability, readability, and credibility heuristics. Interrater reliability was evaluated using kappa statistics. Descriptive statistics were used to describe website features. Results: Community websites tended to provide help-seeking information, safe messaging, and community activities. However, no websites provided information on lethal means safety or references to signal credibility. Limitations: The sample was small and only included English-language websites, and focused on veteran-oriented, community websites. Conclusion: Community suicide prevention websites focused on veterans could be improved through increased readability, credibility, and provision of lethal means safety information.
AB - Background: Recent data show many veterans who die by suicide are not currently engaged in mental health care. Veterans frequently use the Internet for health information and may look online for community resources when in distress. However, little is known about their design characteristics. Aim: To evaluate the design and content of community, veteran suicide prevention websites. Method: Community websites focused on veteran suicide prevention were gathered through Internet searches using standardized search terms. Websites that met the inclusion criteria (n = 9) were evaluated for adherence to suicide safe messaging, usability, readability, and credibility heuristics. Interrater reliability was evaluated using kappa statistics. Descriptive statistics were used to describe website features. Results: Community websites tended to provide help-seeking information, safe messaging, and community activities. However, no websites provided information on lethal means safety or references to signal credibility. Limitations: The sample was small and only included English-language websites, and focused on veteran-oriented, community websites. Conclusion: Community suicide prevention websites focused on veterans could be improved through increased readability, credibility, and provision of lethal means safety information.
KW - Internet
KW - community
KW - messaging
KW - suicide
KW - veterans
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U2 - 10.1027/0227-5910/a000590
DO - 10.1027/0227-5910/a000590
M3 - Article
C2 - 30935244
AN - SCOPUS:85063814466
SN - 0227-5910
VL - 40
SP - 347
EP - 354
JO - Crisis
JF - Crisis
IS - 5
ER -