Self-Guided PSP Wellbeing Course

This course was designed to be helpful for PSP who have mental health concerns who are looking for a new way to access services or are faced with barriers for accessing care such as:

• geographical barriers (e.g., difficulty accessing care while posted to remote locations);
• logistical barriers (e.g., shift work limits access to standard service hours, busy work and family life);
• stigma barriers (e.g., perceptions of being evaluated negatively for having mental health concerns); or
• limited resources (e.g., insufficient access).

An ICBT course called the Wellbeing Course was originally developed at Macquarie University in Australia and was then adapted and researched by the Online Therapy Unit at the University of Regina. The Wellbeing Course has shown success as a treatment for anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. PSPNET has recently adapted the Wellbeing Course for PSP, including First Responders. The Self-Guided PSP Wellbeing Course is a version of the PSP Wellbeing Course that does not involve therapist support. We are now evaluating the Self-Guided PSP Wellbeing Course for the first time.

The Self-Guided PSP Wellbeing Course is an internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy (ICBT) program. ICBT involves using the internet to deliver the same treatment content that is normally covered in face-to-face cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for depression, anxiety, or posttraumatic injuries.

Lesson materials are presented online on a weekly basis over the course of 8 weeks, although PSP will have access to the lesson materials for up to 26 weeks after enrolling in the Self-Guided PSP Wellbeing Course.

There are 5 main lessons but extra materials are available as needed (e.g., to address sleep concerns, social relationships, problem solving).

Lessons are presented in an engaging manner, and assignments are given at the end of each lesson to help with learning strategies. Clients are typically sent automated emails that encourage them to complete the lessons.

The Self-Guided PSP Wellbeing Course was designed to take 8-10 weeks for clients to work through the 5 main lessons. Each lesson typically takes clients 1 hour to review the materials online, and 1-3 hours to practice the skills taught in the course, such as using the DIY Guides at the end of each lesson. We highly encourage clients to schedule in time each week to work through the material within 8 weeks. After the first 8 weeks, clients may still access the course materials for another 18 weeks to print off any materials of interest and refer to.

The Self-Guided PSP Wellbeing Course is NOT therapist-assisted. Currently, we are only able to offer therapist-assisted ICBT to PSP in certain provinces, but we hope to extend our therapist-supported ICBT programs to additional provinces and territories soon.

The responses you provide are confidential and will not be released to any outside source. PSPNET will take several precautions to protect the security of your information:

1. Questionnaires are built into the PSPNET web application, and your responses will be stored on a secure server housed at the University of Regina, which is protected with generally available security technologies, including firewalls and data encryption.
2. Information transmitted from your machine to the server is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL). This server is located in Canada and information on the server is covered by the Canadian Privacy Act.

There are, however, some rare circumstances under which we may need to break confidentiality:

1. If there is reason for us to suspect there is a risk of potential, imminent harm to you or others (e.g., if you emailed the PSPNET team and described plans to harm yourself or someone else).
2. If there is reason for us to suspect neglect or harm to a child, including the witnessing of violence (e.g., if you emailed the PSPNET team and described neglecting or harming a child).
3. If a court order requires us to release information.
4. If we are required to release information by legislation.

PSPNET is a research facility. As such, when your information is used for research and scholarly purposes, we de-identify the information used for these purposes. This means that your information will only ever be analyzed and presented in a way such that you are not identifiable.

We are currently seeking feedback from clients to understand satisfaction and outcomes of the course. We are particularly interested in learning more about the optimal way to offer the course.

Yes, the Self-Guided PSP Wellbeing Course is currently being offered in both English and French.

For information about the Self-Guided PSP Wellbeing Course contact 306-337-7233 (SAFE) or email pspnet@uregina.ca.