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From the Director's Desk
Greetings,
As we close out another rewarding year reaching out to and providing our services to public safety personnel (PSP), we would like to take some time to reflect on our accomplishments in this newsletter, as it relates to:
- Course improvements;
- A new resource to help PSP support each other;
- A new self-guided PSP Wellbeing Course available to all PSP across Canada;
- New publications;
- New clinicians that joined our team; and the
- Expansion of PSPNET.
Our goal for this year was to REACH as many PSP as we could and we are proud to have 242 clients from Saskatchewan and 140 clients from Quebec who have enrolled in our service.
In 2022, we hope to GROW our service by officially launching PSPNET in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
We are now accepting clients from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia as part of a soft-launch of the PSPNET service in these 2 new provinces. An official launch will take place in early 2022.
Thank you for your interest in our services and for taking the time to read this newsletter. Please feel free to contact us if you require any additional information or have any questions.
From the PSPNET team, wishing you and yours a happy and healthy holiday season, and all the best in 2022.
You can get the word out about our service to any public safety personnel and first responders in your lives by forwarding this email to others.
Dr. Heather Hadjistavropoulos
Director of PSPNET
www.pspnet.ca |
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Course highlights:
- Developed and made available new resource materials on managing mental health at work, informing family members about the skills learned in the Wellbeing Course, supporting colleagues with mental health concerns, health anxiety, and a resource enhancing motivation.
- Added mindfulness audio and written meditation guides.
- Translated the PSP PTSD course to French and make it available
- Translated PSP Wellbeing course audio lessons to French.
New resource to help PSP support each other:
- Many PSP feel alone when facing mental health challenges. Co-workers can be a source of support since they understand the pressures and stressors of PSP work. However, many co-workers don't know where to begin helping someone struggling with mental health issues. The Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment (CIPSRT), in partnership with the clinical team at PSPNET, has developed a new resource called How to Support a Co-worker Experiencing Mental Health Issues to address this issue.
- Co-workers are often among the first to notice when someone is struggling and because of the nature of their work, PSP are more likely to open up to peers who understand their situation. PSPNET designed this resource to make those conversations easier.
- To view or download the resource, click here
Self-guided PSP Wellbeing course:
- We are pleased to inform you that we are currently conducting a study to evaluate a self-guided version of our internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy program for Canadian public safety personnel. Participation in this study is offered to public safety personnel anywhere in Canada, and all participants in this study will receive free access to the treatment (currently offered in English only).
- This study is being led by a PhD Candidate named Hugh McCall, under the supervision of Dr. Heather Hadjistavropoulos at the University of Regina and with support from PSPNET and CIPSRT.
- For more information about this study, please see the link below under "Find out more about the courses we offer" section of this newsletter.
New publications:
- Why do public safety personnel seek tailored Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy? An observational study of treatment-seekers.
- Insights into internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for public safety personnel: Exploration of client experiences during and after treatment.
- See "Recent publications by our researchers" for links to these publications.
Meet our new clinicians that joined the team this year:
- Isabelle Dena, Registered Social Worker, read more about Isabelle here
- Melissa Scheltgen, Registered Social Worker, read more about Melissa here
- Dr. Luke Schneider, Registered Psychologist, read more about Luke here
- Kerry Spice, Registered Psychologist, read more about Kerry here
Expansion of PSPNET:
- We are excited to announce that we are expanding our reach to the Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
- We have started a soft-launch and are accepting public safety personnel from these 2 provinces. We offer our service in English and French.
- Our newest clinician, Dr. Luke Schneider, is based out of Nova Scotia.
- In 2022, we hope to grow our service to the Maritime Provinces by officially launching PSPNET in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
- If you are a PSP in one of these provinces, please sign up for our service using one of our course links below.
- We hope to announce further expansion in early 2022.
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Find out more about the courses we offer
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Metrics provided in this newsletter are up to November 30, 2021:
- 55812 people have visited our website, www.pspnet.ca.
- 418 PSP have completed a telephone assessment.
- 388 PSP have started treatment.
- 250 have fully completed the program.
- 106 remain active in treatment.
- 99% agreed that PSPNET was worth their time.
- 98% of PSP would refer PSPNET to a friend.
- 91% of PSP reported increased confidence in managing their symptoms.
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Dr. Amélie Fournier was invited to the 2021 convention of the Association des gestionnaires en sécurité incendie et civile du Québec, held in Trois-Rivière in October to provide an overview of the services that PSPNET has available for PSP. They mentioned the need for this type of service and showed their interest in supporting our program by referring PSPNET to their teams and peers. Some mentioned how encouraging it is to see such positive service delivery outcomes for how our service is helping PSP with their mental health concerns.
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Tip for your mental health
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With the holidays coming up, while many people find this a relaxing and joyful time of year, we know that this can also sometimes be a stressful time. Central to managing any form of stress is first noticing the stress is present, and then taking some time to manage the stress, ideally before the stress descends.
Some helpful options include:
- focusing on what you can control,
- setting boundaries on activities you don't enjoy,
- adding in pleasant activities that you enjoy,
- making time for self-care,
- managing expectations and reaching out for support.
We are wishing you all the very best in finding the strategies that work best for you.
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We have had extensive contact with various PSP organizations and agencies to promote PSPNET.
- 4355 people have attended PSPNET presentations across various PSP organizations.
- 1047 presentations, meetings, and stakeholders surveys have been completed.
- 1069 organizations have been provided with PSPNET promotional materials.
- 640 organizations have agreed to refer PSPNET.
- 527 organizations and agencies have incorporated PSPNET into their workplace practices.
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Recent publications by our researchers
- McCall, H. C., Landry, C. A., Ogunade, A., Carleton, R. N., & Hadjistavropoulos, H. D. (2021). Why Do Public Safety Personnel Seek Tailored Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy? An Observational Study of Treatment-Seekers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(22), 1197
- Beahm, J.D., McCall, H.C., Carleton, N. R., Titov, N., Dear, B., & Hadjistavropoulos, H. D., Insights into internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy for public safety personnel: Exploration of client experiences during and after treatment, Internet Interventions, Volume 26, 2021, 100481
- Hadjistavropoulos, H. D., McCall, H. C., Thiessen, D. L., Huang, Z., Carleton, R. N., Dear, B. F., & Titov, N. (2021). Initial outcomes of transdiagnostic internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy tailored for public safety personnel: A longitudinal observational study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(5), e27610.
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Request a presentation or PSPNET promotional materials
If you would like us to provide a presentation to your organization or send promotional materials (wallet cards, magnets, postcards) in English and French, contact us by email at pspnet@uregina.ca or phone at 306-337-7233 or toll-free at 1-833-317-7233.
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Thank you to our partners and funders
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