A feasibility and acceptability study of an online intervention for family and friends caring for a person who has attempted suicide.

Minds Together is a suite of programs, from Everymind, that aim to improve the capacity of caregivers to support family and friends experiencing mental ill-health or suicidal distress. The current project will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the newest program, an online intervention for family and friends caring for a person who has attempted suicide. PROGRAM OVERVIEW - Caregivers in the Minds Together Online Support Program (the Program) will be asked to complete two (2) core modules and eight (8) optional mini-modules over an eight (8) week period. - We expect each core module to take approximately 45 - 60 minutes to complete. - The optional mini-modules will take 15-30 minutes each to complete, depending on which in-depth topics are chosen. - The estimated completion times for modules and mini-modules are inclusive of activities built into the program, although this may vary for some participants based on their caregiving experiences. MODULE CONTENT The modules address the following topics: - Module 1 – Supporting your family member or friend - information about suicidal distress, mental health and exploration of the caring journey for the caregiver and the person they support. - Module 2 – Looking after yourself - looking further at the caring journey and exploring caregiver wellbeing and self-care. - Mini-Modules –will go into further depth on topics discussed in Modules 1 and 2, including talking about suicide, stigma, self-care, communication, safety plans, feelings and hypervigilance. - Participants will receive weekly emails reminding them of access details and prompting completion of the modules and mini-modules. PROGRAM DESIGN - The Program has been specifically designed by Everymind for this online intervention. It builds on several previous Everymind programs, including Guiding Their Way Back - a series of resources and face to face training developed with Beyond Blue. - The program is delivered online using a mixed-media format, including text, short videos, infographics, and short podcasts. - Each module contains case studies, activities, worksheets, and reflective questions that caregivers can answer within the program and at a time that suits the participant. - No grade will be given for any of the exercises. - Caregivers will also have the capacity to download activities and information sheets for future use. SOCIAL FORUM - In addition to the Program, Everymind will integrate an online social support forum (the Forum), as social support has been identified as an essential factor in reducing caregivers’ poor mental health outcomes. - The Forum is a closed discussion forum and operates similarly to a Facebook Group. Unless caregivers choose to use their names, their identities will remain anonymous. Only their first name will be visible to other users if they decide to use their name. - Users can post their story, their thoughts, update their status, share links and images and talk to other caregivers about their experience with the program. Users can edit and remove any comments or posts they have added to the community and change the settings for the types of notifications they receive via email. - The Forum will be moderated by a PhD student running the trial and supervised by a Clinical Psychologist. - Participants can contribute as little or as much to the Forum as they wish; there is no minimum contribution amount. - Participants allocated to the social forum will also receive weekly emails reminding them of access details and prompting them to log in to and participate in the social forum. - Deidentified metadata showing what content was accessed and completed by participants when users accessed the content and for how long will be used to assess the program’s feasibility and acceptability.