New Zealand is one of the top three countries in the world searching for mental health with interest in the topic reaching an all-time high this year. We know people turn to Google Search for actionable information in a crisis, and wherever you are in the world, access to information is a critical determinant of your health and wellbeing.
Today at Google Health’s annual event, The Check Up, we announced that we’re partnering with ThroughLine New Zealand, the largest verified network of mental health and crisis helplines around the world to add relevant local helpline information to Google Search. This will increase the number of crisis helplines that appear at the top of search results in additional languages and countries for searches related to suicide, domestic violence and other personal crisis topics.
Elliot Taylor, founder of ThroughLine, said “Our mission is to help as many people as we can, all over the world, with crisis support in their most difficult moments. Google is in a unique position to be able to connect people to such support, and we’re so proud to partner with them to scale this work globally, helping millions of people with accurate and timely information.”
Our focus is on quickly connecting people in need with helpful resources, especially in situations where time is of the essence. For over a decade, we’ve worked closely with crisis support providers to help people who are looking for information in personal crisis situations like suicide, sexual assault and domestic violence. By expanding the number of crisis prevention information boxes on Google Search we hope to reach millions more people in critical moments.
People come to Google with health-related questions hundreds of millions of times a day and partnerships like this one will help more people around the world find help with challenges like mental health issues, in the moments they need it most.