Can the Compassion of “The Crowd” Reduce Suicide?

Something we think a lot about here at Body1 is how to “Connect People with the Health Information that Matters Most to Them”.   In fact, we’ve made that our Mission.   We seek to apply it in our work, and in the ideas which we share.

Here’s one idea.  There’s a huge social opportunity to leverage digital for suicide prevention. Especially so, since suicide is a huge mental health issue that is largely unresolved.   It is a top 10 cause of death in America, 3rd behind only cancer and heart disease in years of life lost.   In the most recent full reporting year (2012), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report 40,600 suicides, equivalent to someone dying every 13 minutes.

Given the immediacy of the need and the ubiquitous of smartphones, digital could offer a solution.  A 24 hour/day, 7 day/week, 365 day/year (24×7, 365) app that video links to a trained peer counselor is one possible approach.

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There are some big questions to be answered first, including (but not limited to):

1. How to staff with appropriately trained personnel?
(one approach- could be drawn from a pool of *trained* volunteers with a round robin telephone routing),

2. How to market & distribute
(possibly via health plans, Apple, Google, telco’s, etc);

3. Who funds?
(options include CDC, state Health depts, crowdfunded?)

This seems to us like a wonderful way for digital to contribute to the social good.  Thoughts? Comments?