The Opportunities and Challenges of the First Three Years of Open Up, an Online Text-Based Counselling Service for Youth and Young Adults

Paul Siu Fai Yip, Wai-Leung Chan, Christian S. Chan, Lihong He, Yucan Xu, Evangeline Chan, Yui Chi Chau, Qijin Cheng, Siu-Hung Cheng, Florence Cheung, James Chow, Shirley Chow, Jerry Fung, Siu-Man Hsu, Yik Wa Law, Billie Lo, Sze-Man Miu, Wai Man Ng, Ken Ngai, Christy Tsang, Cynthia Xiong and Zhongzhi Xu
Additional contact information
Paul Siu Fai Yip: Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Wai-Leung Chan: Youth and Community Services, Caritas Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Christian S. Chan: Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Lihong He: Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Yucan Xu: Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Evangeline Chan: Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Yui Chi Chau: Head Office, Hong Kong Children and Youth Services, Hong Kong, China
Qijin Cheng: Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Siu-Hung Cheng: Youth Service, St. James’ Settlement, Hong Kong, China
Florence Cheung: Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
James Chow: Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Shirley Chow: Youth and Community Services, Caritas Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Jerry Fung: Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Siu-Man Hsu: Headquarter, The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, Hong Kong, China
Yik Wa Law: Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Billie Lo: IT Unit, The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, Hong Kong, China
Sze-Man Miu: Jockey Club Online Youth Emotional Support, The Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs Association of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Wai Man Ng: Youth and Community Services, Caritas Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Ken Ngai: Independent Researcher, Hong Kong, China
Christy Tsang: Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Cynthia Xiong: Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Zhongzhi Xu: Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-10

Abstract: We present the opportunities and challenges of Open Up, a free, 24/7 online text-based counselling service to support youth in Hong Kong. The number of youths served more than doubled within the first three years since its inception in 2018 in response to increasing youth suicidality and mental health needs. Good practice models are being developed in order to sustain and further scale up the service. We discuss the structure of the operation, usage pattern and its effectiveness, the use of AI to improve users experience, and the role of volunteer in the operation. We also present the challenges in further enhancing the operation, calling for more research, especially on the identification of the optimal number of users that can be concurrently served by a counsellor, the effective approach to respond to a small percentage of repeated users who has taken up a disproportional volume of service, and the way to optimize the use of big data analytics and AI technology to enhance the service. These advancements will benefit not only Open Up but also similar services across the globe.

Keywords: youth suicide prevention; crisis intervention; online emotional support service; online text-based counselling; Artificial Intelligence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/24/13194/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/24/13194/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:24:p:13194-:d:702357

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().