Does a TV Public Service Advertisement Campaign for Suicide Prevention Really Work?
A Case From South Korea
Abstract
Abstract.Background: One of the critical measures in suicide prevention is promoting public awareness of crisis hotline numbers so that individuals can more readily seek help in a time of crisis. Although public service advertisements (PSA) may be effective in raising the rates of both awareness and use of a suicide hotline, few investigations have been performed regarding their effectiveness in South Korea, where the suicide rate is the highest among OECD countries. Aims: The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a television PSA campaign. Method: We analyzed a database of crisis phone calls compiled by the Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare to track changes in call volume to a crisis hotline that was promoted in a TV campaign. We compared daily call counts for three periods of equal length: before, during, and after the campaign. Results: The number of crisis calls during the campaign was about 1.6 times greater than the number before or after the campaign. Relative to the number of suicide-related calls in the previous year, the number of calls during the campaign period surged, displaying a noticeable increase. Conclusion: The findings confirmed that this campaign had a positive impact on call volume to the suicide hotline.
References
2001). Impact of public service advertising: Research evidence and effective strategies. Retrieved from http://www.learningace.com/doc/1648360/0c951c8e031ecccdef0a8f83e26afd7b/
(2008). Living Is For Everyone (LIFE) Framework, (2007): A framework for prevention of suicide in Australia. Retrieved from http://www.livingisforeveryone.com.au/life-framework.html
. (2006). Reaching suicidal people with media campaigns. Crisis, 27(4), 172–180. 10.1027/0227-5910.27.4.172
(2009). Public awareness campaigns about depression and suicide: A review. Psychiatric Services, 60, 1203–1213.
(2013). Efficient interventions on suicide prevention: A literature review. Revue d'Epidemiologie Sante Publique, 61(4), 363–374. 10.1016/j.respe.2013.01.099
(2007). An evaluation of crisis hotline outcomes. Part 2: Suicidal callers. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 37(3), 338–352. 10.1521/suli.2007.37.3.338
(2006). The alliance against depression: 2-year evaluation of a community-based intervention to reduce suicidality. Psychological Medicine, 36, 1225–1233. 10.1017/S003329170600780X
(2010). Awareness effects of a youth suicide prevention media campaign in Louisiana. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 40(4), 394–406. 10.1521/suli.2010.40.4.394
(2010). Suicide prevention public service announcements: Perceptions of young adults. Crisis, 31(5), 247–254. 10.1027/0227-5910/a000032
(2009). Suicide prevention with adolescents: Considering potential benefits and untoward effects of public service announcements. Crisis, 30(3), 128–135. 10.1027/0227-5910.30.3.128
(2014). Deaths by cause. Retrieved from http://kosis.kr/eng/statisticsList/statisticsList_01List.jsp?vwcd=MT_ETITLE&parmTabId=M_01_01#SubCont
. (2010). Choose Life. Campaign spotlight: post-campaign results. Retrieved from http://www.chooselife.net/uploads/documents/39-evaluationMediaCampaign2010.pdf
. (2006). The New Zealand suicide prevention strategy 2006-2016. Wellington, New Zealand: Author.
. (2012). Suicide rates. Retrieved from https://data.oecd.org/healthstat/suicide-rates.htm
. (2008). Brief report: Preliminary results of a suicide awareness mass media campaign in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 38(2), 245–249. 10.1521/suli.2008.38.2.245
(2013). A study legal and institutional for the prevention of suicide: Focused on suicide prevention and establishment of culture of respect for life law. Dong-A Law Review, 57(11), 85–118.
(2010). Effectiveness of social norms media marketing in reducing drinking and driving: A statewide campaign. Addictive Behaviors, 35(10), 866–874. 10.1016/j.addbeh.2010.05.004
(2001). Influence of a counteradvertising media campaign on initiation of smoking: The Florida "truth" campaign. American Journal of Public Health, 91(2), 233–238. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11211631
(2015). Evaluation of the effectiveness of a suicide prevention advertising media campaign: Analysis of changes in knowledge-attitude-behavior by using propensity score matching. Journal of Korean Neuropsychiatric Association, 54(2), 202–208. 10.4306/jknpa.2015.54.2.202
(2014). Cross-national comparison of public awareness campaigns for suicide prevention: Analysis of campaign strategies and contents of New Zealand, USA, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, and Korea. The Journal of the Korea Contents Association, 14(7), 253–270. 10.5392/JKCA.2014.14.07.253
(2013). Reasons to love life. Effects of a suicide-awareness campaign on the utilization of a telephone emergency line in Austria. Crisis, 34(6), 382–389. 10.1027/0227-5910/a000212
(2012). 2012 national strategy for suicide prevention: Goals and objectives for actions. Washington, DC: Author.
. (2012). Seasonality of suicidal behavior. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 9(2), 531–547. 10.3390/ijerph9020531
(2003). The analytical study on the effect of TV anti-smoking PSA (Public Service Announcement) (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea.
(