Evaluation of a community helpers' mental health and suicide awareness training programme for youth and young adults in Alberta, Canada.

OBJECTIVE: The Community Helpers Programme (CHP) is a peer-helping programme providing youth and young adults with tools to support their peers to problem solve and seek mental health and suicide prevention support. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the provincial programme (primary outcomes = knowledge, self-efficacy; secondary outcome = awareness of stigma) and describe the experience of participants, coordinators, and others. STUDY DESIGN: The mixed methods evaluation included a longitudinal panel design outcome evaluation along with follow-up interviews. METHODS: A series of three surveys collecting participant characteristics, knowledge, self-efficacy, and awareness of stigma at pre-training (T0), post-training (T1), and six-months follow-up (T2) were conducted. Mean group scores were calculated for completers (T0 and T1 completers and T0, T1, and T2 completers). Friedman tests were conducted to assess change over time and follow-up Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests determined the significance of changes in scores between each timepoint. Content analysis was conducted on qualitative data. RESULTS: Participants' knowledge of mental health, suicide, and available supports along with self-efficacy increased from T0 to T1, and declined at T2. Awareness of stigma was high at all timepoints. Themes from the qualitative analysis included skill and knowledge development facilitators (e.g., consideration of learner needs, passionate coordinators, engaged learning approaches), sustaining community helper connectedness (e.g., helpers' network, awareness of and communication with local resources), and role and impact of CHP (e.g., addressing stigma, success stories). CONCLUSIONS: This evaluation demonstrated that CHP was effective and offered feedback on experiences, including suggestions on CHP strengths and aspects to explore.

Prompted awareness and use of Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the awareness of Canada's Food Guide (CFG). The present study aimed to report the general and specific awareness of CFG recommendations among adults in Alberta, Canada. METHODS: For this cross-sectional study, respondents (aged >18 years) from randomly selected households completed a telephone survey. Questions pertaining to CFG, physical activity, and vegetable and fruit consumption were included. Logistic regression determined associations between demographic characteristics and awareness of CFG. RESULTS: Thousand two hundred and ten Albertans (50% female, mean age 50.5 years) responded. Most [86.5%; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 84.6-88.4] indicated being generally aware of CFG when prompted and 82.5% were aware of specific CFG recommendations. There were no differences in age between those generally aware and unaware of CFG. Female sex [odds ratio (OR) = 3.6; 95%CI = 24-5.4], Caucasian ethnicity (OR = 3.7; 95% CI = 2.3-5.8), income ≥ Canadian $100 000 per annum (OR = 1.6; 95% CI = 1.1-2.3), reporting ≥5 vegetables and fruit per day (OR = 2.1; 95% CI = 1.4-3.2), exceeding recommended levels for physical activity (OR = 2.0; 95% CI = 1.3-2.9) and perception of current weight as healthy (OR = 1.8; 95% CI = 1.2-2.8) were associated with an awareness of CFG. CONCLUSIONS: Sex, ethnicity and income were associated with general awareness of CFG. Future studies could explore the relationship between awareness and other health-related behaviours.