Patterns of Use of the Nunavut Kamatsiaqtut Help Line

1
Patterns of Use of the Nunavut Kamatsiaqtut Help
Line

• Tan, J.a,b, Maranzan, A.b, Boone, M.a,b,
  VanderVelde, J.a,c, Levy, S.c

aCentre of Excellence for Children and
Adolescents with Special Needs bLakehead
University, Thunder Bay, ON cNunavut
Kamatsiaqtut Help Line
2
Introduction

• This project a collaborative research effort
  between the Nunavut Kamatsiaqtut Help Line (NKHL)
  and the Mental Health Task Force of the Centre of
  Excellence for Children and Adolescents with
  Special Needs

3

• NKHL has 3 local Iqaluit lines one toll-free
  line one toll-free AIDS Information Line.
• Main catchment area Nunavut, but calls also
  come from Nunavik and other areas in the nation.

4

• For more information, refer to tomorrows talk _at_
  11 am by Ms. Sheila Levy and Mr. John
  VanderVelde Volunteer Comments and Service
  Implications Derived from the Research project
  Patterns of Use of the Nunavut Kamatsiaqtut Help
  Line.

5

• Crisis lines help individuals with problems in
  the community.
• They provide a possible source of help for
  someone who is in psychological pain and who
  might be suicidal.

6

• Nunavut has the youngest population in Canada,
  has the highest youth suicide rate in the country
  (Department of Culture, Language, Elders and
  Youth, 2003).
• Among the males, suicide rates peak within the
  15-19 age group, followed by a smaller peak
  within the 30-34 age group (Chief Coroner for
  Nunavut, 2003).
• Among the females, the rates peak within the
  20-24 age group (Chief Coroner for Nunavut,
  2003).

7

• Suicide rates in Nunavut also appear to follow a
  seasonal pattern (Chief Coroner for Nunavut,
  2003).
• Male suicides peak in spring (March May) and
  late fall/winter (October November).
• Female suicides peak during the summer months
  (July August)

8
Research Questions

• What are the demographic characteristics of the
  callers to the crisis lines (i.e., the local
  lines and the toll-free line) and the AIDS line?
• What types of calls are received by these lines?
  How do they vary by sex and age category?
• Among the distressed calls received by the lines,
  what types of personal problems are discussed?
  How do they differ by sex and age category?

9

• 4. What kinds of help did the NKHL volunteers
  provide to the callers to the different lines,
  and what kinds of services did they direct them
  to? Does the help differ by sex and age category
  of the callers?
• 5. What is the peak time of use? How long do
  the calls last?
• How does the frequency of use for the different
  lines vary with the months?
• For the local Iqaluit lines alone, how does the
  frequency of use relate to the moon phase and
  photoperiod in Iqaluit?

10
Methods

• Data collection
• Data was collected from 1991, 1993-2000 for the
  local crisis line
• From 1991, 1993-2001 for the toll-free line
• From 1996-2000 for the AIDS line
• 4,248 calls in total

11

• Call sheets were photocopied and taken to
  Lakehead University for coding and analysis
• Caller and volunteer confidentiality was
  maintained throughout the process
• Some call sheets were written in Inuktitut, and
  translated by another member of the research team
• Coding categories
• Call information (date, duration, start time,
  type of line)

12

• Caller demographic information
• Sex Male/Female
• Age category
• Child (12 and under), Teenager (13-19), Adult
  (20 and older)
• Region
• Baffin, Northern Quebec, Keewatin, Kitikmeot,
  Other
• Marital status
• Single, married, common-law, separated,
  divorced, other
• Living arrangements
• Alone, single parent, nuclear family, family
  of origin, relatives, non-relatives, other
• First language and Spoken language
• English, Inuktitut, French, English
  Inuktitut, other

13

• Type of call
• Distress
• Educational information
• Information about the Helpline
• Non-personal information
• Prank call
• Abusive call
• Wrong number
• Hang-up
• Personal calls (for volunteer)
• Testing of the line

14

• Coding categories contd
• Language as a barrier to service
• Type of help provided by volunteers
• Listening
• Giving suggestions on how to handle problems
• Directing caller to Legal services
• Law enforcement
• Clergy
• Elder
• Shelters for women/homeless
• Social services/social worker
• Psychiatric/psychological help Medical
  services
• Drug/alcohol treatment
• Call back
• Other

15

• Distress calls were subject to a content analysis
• Distress categories
• Suicidal thought/intent
• Distress over anothers suicide
• Substance abuse/addiction
• Lonely/bored
• Abused by others physical/emotional, sexual
• Abused others physical/emotional, sexual
• Parenting concerns
• Relationship concerns
• Psychiatric problems
• Trouble with the law
• Stress work, school, financial
• Health issues, sexual health issues
• Bereavement
• Concern for others
• Other

16

• 73.63 inter-rater reliability was achieved for
  the content analysis
• Finally, daily meteorological data for Iqaluit
  was obtained
• Moon phase data
• Daily photoperiod ( of daylight hours per day)

17
Results

• The AIDS line was analyzed separately from the
  other two crisis lines (local and toll-free)
  because of their different mandates.
• The local and toll-free crisis lines were pooled
  together in the analysis (henceforth collectively
  referred to as crisis lines).
• Why? Because of the similarity in their mandate
  and to protect the confidentiality of callers
  from Iqaluit and other communities

18
The Crisis Lines
19
Callers were primarily

• From the Baffin region
• Females
• Adults (age 20)
• Single
• Living within a nuclear family context
• Had Inuktitut as their first language but
• Spoke English with the NKHL volunteers

20
Calls were also received from

• Northern Quebec (7.80)
• Keewatin (4.53)
• Kitikmeot (1.96)
• And other regions (5.49) that spanned from Nova
  Scotia to British Columbia
• Most of the other region calls were from
  Ontario
• Teens made more calls to the crisis lines than
  did the children

21
(No Transcript)
22
(No Transcript)
23

• Most of the calls originated from the Baffin
  region (44.24)
• Why? About half of the population lives in the
  Baffin region (City of Iqaluit, 2004).
• Low proportion of calls received from Keewatin
  (4.35) and Kitikmeot (1.96) does not parallel
  the distribution of the population in these
  regions

24
(No Transcript)
25

• The listening stance adopted more often with
  adults than with the younger callers
• Female callers were more likely than male callers
  to receive suggestions on how to handle problems.
  
• Female callers more likely to be directed to the
  law enforcement, shelters for women/the homeless,
  medical services, and the social services/social
  worker.

26
The AIDS Information Line
27
AIDS line callers were primarily

• From the Baffin region
• Males
• Adults (age 20)
• Single
• Living arrangements varied from living alone to
  living with members of family of origin and
  living with non-relatives
• Language factor hard to determine because 90
  of call sheets had missing data on this factor

28
Calls also came from

• Northern Quebec (3.28)
• Keewatin (2.19)
• Kitikmeot (0.36)
• And other regions (9.49)
• Other regions from B.C. through to
  Newfoundland
• Teens were equally likely to make calls to the
  AIDS line as the children

29
(No Transcript)
30
(No Transcript)
31
(No Transcript)
32

• Only about 14 of calls came from the Baffin
  region which has about half of Nunavuts
  population (City of Iqaluit, 2004).
• Keewatin which has about 30 of the Nunavut
  population yielded only 2.19 of the calls.
• Many calls originated from outside of Nunavut and
  ranged from the west to the east coast.

33
Calls Relating to Abuse
34

• Percentages of such callers to the crisis lines
  and AIDS lines are quite low.
• Physical and/or emotional abuse of the caller
  4.99 of crisis line calls, 4.37 of the calls
  to the AIDS line.
• Sexual abuse reported in 4.39 of the crisis
  lines calls and in 1.46 of the AIDS line calls.
  

35

• Husbands and boyfriends were the most frequent
  perpetrators of physical and/or emotional abuse.
• Uncles followed by fathers and non-family
  individuals were the most frequent known
  perpetrators of sexual abuse.

36

• Among the callers who committed
  physical/emotional abuse, the most frequent
  victims were their girlfriends.
• Among callers who committed sexual abuse, their
  victims ranged across the board from family
  members, boyfriend, to underage minor and
  stranger.

37

• The crisis lines most active between 9 pm and
  midnight, peak 10 pm - 11 pm.
• The AIDS line most active between 715 pm and
  730 pm.
• On average, crisis lines calls lasted 17 minutes
  and the AIDS line calls 12 minutes.

38
Figure 1 Number of calls to crisis lines between
1991-2001
39
Figure 2 Number of calls to AIDS line between
1996-2000
40
Figure 3 Number of suicide ideation/intention
calls to the crisis lines between 1991-2001
41
Figure 4 Number of calls by moon phase from 0
(new moon) to 1 (full moon) for the local Iqaluit
line from 1992-2000)
42
Figure 5 Number of calls by photoperiod local
Iqaluit line
43
Limitations of the Study

• The data collection over the years has not been
  consistent.
• There was considerable variation in the depth of
  details that were kept by the volunteers.
• The contents of the call sheets were filtered
  through the perception of the volunteers and not
  obtained directly from the callers themselves.

44
Conclusions and Implications
45

• The findings from this study indicate that the
  crisis lines serve their purpose of providing
  community-based social and emotional support for
  the North.
• The AIDS line is used within Nunavut and attracts
  considerable use from across Canada as well.
• The NKHL volunteers provide a gamut of helpful
  interventions that range from emphatic listening
  to providing referrals and intervening actively
  (e.g., calling for the police) in cases that
  warranted such assistance.

46

• However, the volunteers also are affected by
  prank and abusive calls, hang-up calls, and poor
  communication lines that break up calls.
• Although 85 of suicides are committed by males
  and the suicide rates peak among males who are
  between the ages of 15-19 (Chief Coroner for
  Nunavut, 2003), the crisis lines received more
  calls from females and from adults for primarily
  reasons related to personal distress.
• The AIDS Information Line was utilized more by
  males and by adults for informational purposes.

47

• The lines (both crisis and AIDS line) were
  utilized by the young primarily for prank and
  abusive calls, possibly out of boredom.
• Those who are most in need, i.e., the young
  males, may not using the NKHL lines sufficiently
  for their benefit and that the young people who
  do, do so for the wrong reasons.
• Future research could be carried out to
  investigate strategies to better reach the young
  people.

48
Acknowledgments

• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
• Northern Scientific Training Program
• Centre of Excellence for Children and Adolescents
  with Special Needs
• Northern Studies Program Lakehead University
• Dr. Michael Wesner, Lakehead University
• Student Research Assistants
• - Ashley Kallos - Allison Gliddon
• - Mandy McMahan - Andrea Wrzecionek
• - Shannon Plumpton - Bonnie Frost

49
Patterns of Use of the Nunavut Kamatsiaqtut Help
Line

• Tan, J.a,b, Maranzan, A.b, Boone, M.a,b,
  VanderVelde, J.a,c, Levy, S.c

aCentre of Excellence for Children and
Adolescents with Special Needs bLakehead
University, Thunder Bay, ON cNunavut
Kamatsiaqtut Help Line