A helpline, or switchboard, is a telephone service which offers help to those who call. Many helpline services now offer more than telephone support - offering access to information, advice or customer service via telephone, email, web or SMS. [1] [2] The word hotline is also sometimes used to refer to a helpline. A helpline can provide emotional support to a person in distress in its minimalistic form. It may help the individual.
Services include:
Samaritans is a registered charity aimed at providing emotional support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope or at risk of suicide throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, often through its telephone helpline. Its name derives from the biblical Parable of the Good Samaritan, although the organisation itself is not religious.
A crisis hotline is a phone number people can call to get immediate emergency telephone counseling, usually by trained volunteers. The first such service was founded in England in 1951 and such hotlines have existed in most major cities of the English speaking world at least since the mid-1970s. Initially set up to help those contemplating suicide, many have expanded their mandate to deal more generally with emotional crises. Similar hotlines operate to help people in other circumstances, including rape, bullying, self-harm, runaway children, human trafficking, and people who identify as LGBT or intersex. Despite crisis hotlines being common, their effectiveness in reducing suicides is not clear.
Migrant Help is a United Kingdom-based national charity that has been supporting migrants since 1963.
Telephone counseling refers to any type of psychological service performed over the telephone. Telephone counseling ranges from individual, couple or group psychotherapy with a professional therapist to psychological first aid provided by para-professional counselors. In-person therapists often advise clients to make use of telephone crisis counseling to provide the client with an avenue to obtain support outside of therapy if they cannot be reached in an emergency or at the conclusion of a therapeutic relationship.
A hotline is a point-to-point communications link in which a call is automatically directed to the preselected destination.
Kids Helpline is a free Australian telephone and online counselling service for young people aged between 5 and 25. Counsellors respond to more than 6,000 calls each week about issues ranging from relationship breakdown and bullying to sexual abuse, homelessness, suicidal thoughts, depression and drug and alcohol usage.
988 is a telephone number used in some North American (NANP) countries for a suicide prevention helpline. In the United States, it is known as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. In Canada, it is known as the 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline.
Lifeline is a non-profit organisation that provides free, 24-hour telephone crisis support service in Australia. Volunteer crisis supporters provide suicide prevention services, mental health support and emotional assistance, not only via telephone but face-to-face and online.
Volunteer Emotional Support Helplines (VESH) is a planned combined international network of telephone counseling services being formed by the three largest international services. In their roles of emotional support service networks, they have agreed to develop a more effective and robust international interface.
A harmonised service of social value is a type of freephone service available in the European Union and in some non-EU countries, which answers a specific social need, in particular which contributes to the well-being or safety of citizens, or particular groups of citizens, or helps citizens in difficulty. The phone numbers and the corresponding service descriptions are managed by the European Commission and harmonised across all EU and EEA member states. Harmonised services of social value use the prefix 116, which is then followed by three digits indicating the type of service.
In the United Kingdom, an emergency control centre or emergency communications centre (ECC) is a building or room where control room operators receive incoming telephone calls from members of the public in need of assistance. Callers make initial contact through the 999 emergency telephone service, where their calls are answered at an operator assistance centre (OAC). From here the telephone company's operator directs the call to the relevant ECC.
Switchboard of Miami, Inc., commonly referred to as Switchboard, was a private, nonprofit and registered 501(c)(3) organization located in Miami, Florida, United States that provided Miami-Dade County with comprehensive telephone counseling and referral services to thousands of social service programs beginning in 1968. The organization also offered counseling services and prevention programs, such as initiatives aimed at assisting high-risk youth and their families through partnerships with local schools. Since 1968, these services have been offered to the community at no charge. Callers can seek advice confidentially, as no information is needed by the company in order to receive the services. Switchboard shut down in 2016 following a "major financial emergency".
111 is a free-to-call single non-emergency number medical helpline operating in England, Scotland and Wales. The 111 phone service has replaced the various non-geographic 0845 rate numbers and is part of each country's National Health Service: in England the service is known as NHS 111; in Scotland, NHS 24; and in Wales, NHS111 Wales.
Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) is a non denominational, non-profit suicide prevention centre. Since its establishment in 1969, SOS has developed into a professionally run and managed organisation. It adopts a holistic approach to suicide, focussing on suicide prevention, intervention and postvention.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) is a 24-hour confidential service for survivors, victims and those affected by domestic violence, intimate partner violence and relationship abuse. Advocates are available at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) and through online chatting at www.TheHotline.org. All calls are free and confidential. The NDVH was created through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in the United States. The NDVH offers a variety of help options. The NDVH provides information on topics such as domestic violence, financial abuse, LGBTQ relationship abuse, domestic violence policy updates, advocate information, what to expect when calling the hotline, and life after abuse and domestic violence. The NDVH launched loveisrespect, a resource empower youth to prevent and end dating abuse and promote healthy dating relationships.
SAWA is a Palestinian, non-profit civil society organization established in 1998 by a group of female volunteers active in women's issues.
Vandrevala Foundation is an NGO established by Cyrus Vandrevala and Priya Vandrevala in 2008. In 2009, the foundation launched the "Mental Health - India" initiative to raise awareness and provide services for emotionally distressed individuals.
Womankind, formerly known as the New York Asian Women's Centre (NYAWC), was founded in 1982 by a group of volunteers led by Pat Eng. In 2017, the NYAWC changed its name to Womankind. It is a non-profit organization which aims to empower Asian survivors of gender based violence. Womankind was initially a community awareness program designed to educate families about domestic violence in Chinatown, and then developed into a 24-hour multilingual hotline that now includes 18 different Asian languages and dialects. Womankind also provides Asian immigrant women confidential services including an emergency refuge, shelter services, crisis counseling, 24-hour online free multilingual hotline, welfare promotion, support groups, parenting workshops, children's services, volunteer training, community education, and some English courses. Each year, the organization receives over 3,000 hotline calls.
A helpline is a telephone service which offers help to those who call.
