Evaluation of a community helpers' mental health and suicide awareness training programme for youth and young adults in Alberta, Canada.
Public Health
; 228: 128-136, 2024 Mar.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38354582
ABSTRACT
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. STUDYDESIGN:
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.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Suicidio
/
Prevención del Suicidio
Tipo de estudio:
Qualitative_research
Límite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Humans
País/Región como asunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Public Health
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Canadá
Pais de publicación:
Países Bajos