Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Suicide.ca, Quebec's Digital Suicide Prevention Strategy Platform: Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study

BACKGROUND

In 2017, the Quebec government assigned the Association québécoise de prévention du suicide (AQPS) to develop a digital suicide prevention strategy (DSPS). The AQPS responded by creating a centralized website that provides information on suicide and mental health, identifies at-risk individuals on the internet, and offers direct crisis intervention support via chat and text.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of suicide.ca, Quebec's DSPS platform.

METHODS

This study used a cross-sectional descriptive design. The study population comprised internet users from Quebec, Canada, who visited the suicide.ca platform between October 2020 and October 2021. Various data sources, such as Google Analytics, Firebase Console, and Customer Relation Management data, were analyzed to document the use of the platform. To understand the profile of suicide.ca users, frequency analyses were conducted using data from the self-assessment module questionnaires, the intervention service's triage questionnaire, and the counselors' intervention reports. The effectiveness of the platform's promotional activities on social media was assessed by examining traffic peaks. Google Analytics was used to evaluate the effectiveness of AQPS' strategy for identifying at-risk internet users. The impact of the intervention service was evaluated through an analysis of counselors' intervention reports and postintervention survey results.

RESULTS

The platform received traffic from a diverse range of sources, with promotional efforts on social media directly contributing to the increased traffic. The requirement of a user account posed a barrier to the use of the mobile app, and a triage question that involved personal information led to a substantial number of dropouts during the intervention service triage. AdWords campaigns and fact sheets addressing suicide risk factors played a crucial role in driving traffic to the platform. With regard to the profile of suicide.ca users, the findings revealed that the platform engaged individuals with diverse levels of suicidal risk. Notably, users of the chat service displayed a higher suicide risk than those who used the self-assessment module. Crisis chat counselors reported a positive impact on approximately half of the contacts, and overall, intervention service users expressed satisfaction with the support they received.

CONCLUSIONS

A centralized digital platform can be used to implement a DSPS, effectively reaching the general population, individuals with risk factors for suicide, and those facing suicidal issues.

Digital leadership role in developing business strategy suitable for digital transformation

Businesses must respond to the ecology in which they operate. Especially the rapid transformation of technology has increased the degree of dependency on the system. The main reason for this is perceived only as the technology costs brought by digital transformation. However, we understand from the bankruptcy of economically strong companies that this is not the real problem. This study looks at it from the perspective of leadership, which is an important skill for businesses. The research focuses on leadership roles needed to adapt to digital transformation. At this point, the roles of digital leadership and its contribution to businesses were investigated. At this point, we try to reveal the role of digital leadership with two different qualitative analyzes. In the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with senior managers, phenomenological and content analysis was performed using Nvivo and MAXQDA qualitative analysis programs, and relevant confidential information was revealed. As a result of the research, it has been determined that there is an important link between time management and productivity while supporting system efficiency and transformation adaptation. In other words, a positive relationship has been determined between the success of digital transformation and digital leadership roles. In digital transformation, digital leadership has a role in the positive development of the relationship between the digital transformation process and business strategies. As a result, a perspective on how digital leadership can contribute to businesses that want to develop strategies suitable for the digital transformation process is presented.

Factors that favor or hinder the acquisition of a digital culture in large organizations in Chile

Organizational culture is often perceived as a valuable strategic asset supporting business transformation and the exploitation of digital technologies. Still, it can also be the source of inertia that impedes change. The research question proposed is What factors favor or hinder the acquisition of digital culture in large organizations in Chile? The aim is to rank factors that promote a digital culture based on the perception of executives using the Delphi method. The expert panel was selected with strategic criteria, considering practical knowledge, up-to-date experience on the subject, and having high decision-making positions in large companies in Chile. The main statistics used are media, maximum, minimum, and average range, along with the search for consensus determined by the interquartile range and Kendall's W concordance coefficient. Results show a high level of agreement on the importance of digital strategy and digital leadership factors when favoring a digital culture in large companies in Chile. However, large companies in Chile must pay attention to the conservative triad of elements that characterize Chilean work culture that considers the belief that changes are exclusively possible when commanded by the strategic apex, a hierarchical work culture that prevents collaborative work, and the rejection of disruptive change. These factors and cultural characteristics will likely hinder any attempt to succeed in a digital transformation plan.

Digital Strategy and Social Media for Infectious Diseases

This supplement demonstrates the profound reach of social media across several domains: improved clinical care and advocacy, data analysis, broad reach to diverse patient populations, educational access, best practices in medical education, peer review, digital strategy for individuals and institutions, and combating misinformation.

The Digital Classroom: How to Leverage Social Media for Infectious Diseases Education

Social media (SoMe) platforms have been increasingly used by infectious diseases (ID) learners and educators in recent years. This trend has only accelerated with the changes brought to our educational spaces by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Given the increasingly diverse SoMe landscape, educators may find themselves struggling with how to effectively use these tools. In this Viewpoint we describe how to use SoMe platforms (e.g., Twitter, podcasts, and open-access online content portals) in medical education, highlight medical education theories supporting their use, and discuss how educators can engage with these learning tools effectively. We focus on how these platforms harness key principles of adult learning and provide a guide for educators in the effective use of SoMe tools in educating ID learners. Finally, we suggest how to effectively interact with and leverage these increasingly important digital platforms.

How the Field of Infectious Diseases Can Leverage Digital Strategy and Social Media Use During a Pandemic

Rapid information dissemination is critical in a world changing rapidly due to global threats. Ubiquitous internet access has created new methods of information dissemination that are rapid, far-reaching, and universally accessible. However, inaccuracies may accompany rapid information dissemination, and rigorous evaluation of primary data through various forms of peer review is crucial. In an era in which high-quality information can save lives, it is critical that infectious diseases specialists are well versed in digital strategy to effectively disseminate information to colleagues and the community and diminish voices spreading misinformation. In this study, we review how social media can be used for rapid dissemination of quality information, benefits and pitfalls of social media use, and general recommendations for developing a digital strategy as an infectious diseases specialist. We will describe how the Infectious Diseases Society of America has leveraged digital strategy and social media and how individuals can amplify these resources to disseminate information, provide clinical knowledge, community guidance, and build their own person brand. We conclude in providing guidance to infectious diseases specialists in aiming to build and preserve public trust, consider their audience and specific goals, and use social media to highlight the value of the field of infectious diseases.

EU Agricultural Digitalization Decalogue

The aim of the article is to summarize the ideological foundations and to characterize the current stage of agricultural digitalization in the EU. The author identifies the framework documents and areas of discussion on the development of the digital strategy of the European Union in the agricultural sector. Taking into account the successful practice and opinions of the competent centers, an idea was formed about the principles and ten areas that are covered by supranational assistance, which form a kind of Decalogue of agricultural digitalization. The author notes that the regulation of digital transformation in agriculture is due not so much to the need to increase the economic efficiency of business processes, but rather to the intention to facilitate the control of their compliance with the criteria of climate neutrality and inclusiveness. The digitalization strategy of the Common agricultural policy (CAP) brings its goals closer to those of sustainable development. The ongoing crisis in Europe and the world caused by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic gives the European Commission a formal reason to step up digital transformation in agriculture. Relying on legal and investment-based regulatory tools, it uses tactics to force progress in the name of improving the sustainability of agriculture in the face of probable shocks.

Better value digital health: the medium, the market and the role of openness

The recent NHS 'hack days' have showcased the enthusiasm and talent of the junior doctor body as well as the potential of open source, open governance and small-medium enterprise. There still remains much scope for developing better value digital health services within the NHS. This article sets out the current state of NHS information technology (IT), how it fails to meet the needs of patients and professionals alike and suggests how better value digital health can be achieved.