Understanding Mental Health Risk in Aotearoa: An Analysis of the 1737 Need to Talk Telehealth Service

Abstract

Aim: The 1737 Need to Talk telehealth service (mental health call and text helpline) was launched in Aotearoa New Zealand in June 2017, providing the public with the ability to call or text when they need mental health support. The aim of this research is to describe the utilisation of the 1737 Need to Talk telehealth service. We describe the patterns of 1737 contacts over time and describe the contact users, including the most at-risk contacts (defined as those contacts who trigger the “Break Glass” procedure).

Methods: This is a retrospective observational study analysing 1737 Need to Talk data over 5 years and 7 months from June 2017 through to December 2022. A total of 719,904 contacts to the service were analysed.

Results: This research found that contacts to the 1737 Need to Talk service (by call or text) increased until the end of 2021 and then plateaued from 2022. The average proportion of at-risk service users was 0.43% of 1737 Need to Talk contacts, and this grew minimally over the period investigated. Service users most at risk were found to be of the female gender, in the 13–19-year-old age group, and those residing in Whanganui and MidCentral districts.

Conclusion: This study details the growth in the number of specific demographics reaching out for mental health support to 1737 and may be indicative of the need for increasing mental health support.