Authors: Beahm, J.D., McCall, H.C., Carleton, R.N., Titov, N., Dear, B., & Hadjistavropoulos, H.D.
Canadian public safety personnel (PSP) have high rates of mental health problems. Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy (ICBT) is effective for treating various mental health concerns and can reduce barriers to care like time constraints and fear of stigma. The PSP Wellbeing Course is an ICBT course that has been tailored by PSPNET to the Canadian PSP experience. It includes five core lessons and resources on additional topics. Therapist support is provided weekly, biweekly, or as needed based on client choice over eight weeks with the option to extend to up to 16 weeks.
Tailoring of PSPNET courses is an ongoing process based on feedback from clients sought throughout their time in the courses. The current study looked at data collected from early users of the PSP Wellbeing Course that was used to continue the customization process. The research team wanted to determine the perceived impact of the course as well as what users liked and disliked.
This study examined client communication and feedback from 82 clients who signed up for the PSP Wellbeing Course between December 2019 and June 2020. The study looked at de-identified responses from client emails to therapists, optional weekly homework reflection questions, and a treatment satisfaction questionnaire (TSQ) administered at eight weeks post-enrollment. Of the 82 clients, 57 completed the TSQ.
PSPNET has been designed to fill a need for tailored and easily accessible mental health treatment for PSP. Feedback from clients allows for continued program improvement. The feedback outlined in this study was used to make improvements to the PSP Wellbeing Course, including adding and improving additional resources and the inclusion of lesson audio. The course is now offered to all PSP in Saskatchewan, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia at no charge.
Insights into internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy for public safety personnel: Exploration of client experiences during and after treatment. Read publication here.