Skills for Safer Living Pre-Program Survey for Support Person(s)

Skills for Safer Living (SfSL) is an evidence-based, suicide intervention program for youth considering suicide and their support person(s). The group aims to provide and maintain a safe and trusting environment that allows everyone to feel valued, heard, and respected.

Centre for Suicide Prevention (CSP) is continually measuring the effectiveness of its programs and services. For this evaluation, CSP is working with PolicyWise for Children & Families evaluators to learn how helpful Skills for Safer Living is for you and how we could improve it.

Your participation in the evaluation is completely voluntary. The evaluation will consist of completing a questionnaire following consent to participate. Please complete as much of the questionnaire as you feel comfortable answering. Your choice to participate, or not participate, in the Skills for Safer Living evaluation will not affect the nature of programs and services you receive.

For further information please see the evaluation information sheet.

"*" indicates required fields

Step 1 of 5

20%

This questionnaire will help us see where you’re starting from. Please be honest about how you’re doing, even if you’d like it to be different. Once you complete the program, we will ask you similar questions to identify what changes you’ve had over the course of the program.

Questions marked with * require a response. All other questions are optional. If you are uncomfortable, unsure, or prefer not to answer a question, you may choose to skip it and move on to the next one.

Participant code
The following information will create a code to anonymously represent you. This code will be used to connect your responses with other questionnaires without using your full name or other identifying information.

First letter of your first name*

For example, if your first name was John, you would answer “J”

Last letter of your last name*

For example, if your last name was Doe, you would answer “E”

The day of your birthday*

For example, if your birthday was October 31, you would answer “31”

Please enter a number less than or equal to 31.

Last digit of your birth year*

For example, if you were born in 2005, you would answer “5”

Is a youth or young adult attending this program with you?

Yes

Where are you participating in Skills for Safer Living?

Grande Prairie/Peace River

Stony Plain/Spruce Grove

Calgary – Hull Services

Calgary – Distress Centre

Medicine Hat

How are you attending Skills for Safer Living?

Online

A mix of in-person and online

In-person

Is this your first time attending Skills for Safer Living?

Yes

The next questions will help us make sure that the Skills for Safer Living program is working for people with diverse identities.

How old are you today (in years)?

What is your gender? (check all that apply)

Woman/girl

Man/boy

Non-binary

Two Spirit

Cisgender (your gender identity is the same as the gender you were assigned at birth)

Transgender (your gender identity is not the same as the gender you were assigned at birth)

Another gender not listed here

I don’t know

I prefer not to answer

If you selected 'another gender not listed here', please describe your gender.

What ethnicity, or ethnicities, best describe you? (check all that apply)

African, Caribbean, or Black

East Asian

First Nations, Métis, or Inuit

Latin American

Multiple ethnicities

Southeast Asian

South Asian

West Asian

White

Another ethnicity not listed here

I don’t know

I prefer not to answer

If you selected ‘another ethnicity not listed here’, please describe your ethnicity.

Were you born in Canada?

Yes

Mental health supports

When you’re struggling with your mental health, who do you go to for help? (check all that apply)

Friend

Family member

Intimate partner (boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse, etc)

Someone at my school (teacher, school counsellor, or administrator)

Mental health professional (psychologist, social worker, therapist, or counsellor)

Indigenous Elder or knowledge keeper

My church, temple, mosque, or other religious group

God, Creator, or another religious figure

Group mental health program

Internet support groups

Social media

Family doctor

Nurse or doctor at a mental health program

Hospital/emergency room

Phone, text, or online helpline (Talk Suicide, Kids Help Phone)

I try to deal with it on my own

Someone else

If you selected ‘someone else’, please tell us who you go to for help.

Communicating emotions
Everyone experiences and communicates their emotions differently. In these questions we are trying to understand how you experience, express, and identify your emotions.

Tell us how much you agree with each of the following statements (check the number based on the scale provided):

	Strongly disagree	Disagree	Neither agree nor disagree	Agree	Strongly agree
I am often confused about what emotion I am feeling
It is difficult for me to find the right words for my feelings
I have physical sensations that even doctors don’t understand
I am able to describe my feelings easily
When I am upset, I don’t know if I am sad, frightened, or angry
I am often puzzled by sensations in my body
I have feelings that I can’t quite identify
I find it hard to describe how I feel about people
People tell me to describe my feelings more
I don’t know what’s going on inside me
I often don’t know why I am angry
It is difficult for me to reveal my innermost feelings, even to close friends

Coping strategies

These questions help us learn about the ways you’ve been coping with the stress in your life and your thoughts about suicide.

There are many ways to try to deal with problems and each person chooses to deal with their problems differently. Each question is connected to a particular way of coping. We want to know how much you’ve been doing what the question says. How much or how often. Don’t answer based on whether it seems to be working or not—just whether or not you’re doing it.

Try to rate each question separately in your mind from the others. Make your answers as true FOR YOU as you can.

	I haven’t been doing this at all	I’ve been doing this a little bit	I’ve been doing this a medium amount	I’ve been doing this a lot
I’ve been taking action to try to make the situation better
I’ve been getting help and advice from other people
I’ve been looking for something good in what is happening
I’ve been trying to come up with a strategy about what to do
I’ve been getting emotional support from others
I’ve been hurting my body on purpose or engaging in self-harm when I’m not trying to die
I’ve been expressing my negative feelings
I’ve been making jokes about it
I’ve been learning to live with it
I’ve been trying to find comfort in my religion or spiritual beliefs
I’ve been blaming myself for things that happened
I’ve been doing something to think about it less, such as going to movies, watching TV, reading, daydreaming, sleeping, or shopping
I’ve been refusing to believe that it has happened
I’ve been using alcohol or other drugs to help me get through it
I’ve been giving up trying to deal with it

Support person reaction scale
If you’re attending the Skills for Safer Living program with a youth you support, think about them as you answer the following questions. If you’re attending on your own, think about a youth you support.

Here are some thoughts and feelings that people sometimes have about themselves as a support person. How much does each statement describe your thoughts about your situation?

	Not at all	Somewhat	Quite a bit	Completely
Feel trapped by the youth’s mental illness
Feel stressed by the youth’s mental illness and needs

How much does each statement describe you?

	Not at all	Somewhat	Quite a bit	Completely
You are exhausted when you go to bed at night
You have more to do than you can handle
You don’t have time just for yourself
You work hard as a support person but never seem to make any progress

A support person sometimes feels that they lose important things in life because of the impact of illness on the person they care for. To what extent have you personally lost the following:

	Not at all	Somewhat	Quite a bit	Completely
Having a close relationship with the youth
The person whom you used to know
Contact with other people
A sense of who you are

Caregivers sometimes disagree on how best to support youth who are ill and in their care. How much disagreement have you had with other caregivers about the following issues:

	Not at all	Somewhat	Quite a bit	Completely
The seriousness of the youth’s mental illness
The need to watch out for the youth’s safety
How much independence the youth should have
Whether the youth should be admitted into psychiatric care

How much do you agree with the following statements about your present work situation? If you are unemployed, think about your domestic work or your hobbies:

	Not at all	Somewhat	Quite a bit	Completely
You have less energy for your work
You have missed too many days of work
You have been dissatisfied with the quality of your work
You worry about the youth while you’re at work
Phone calls about or from the youth interrupt your work

People can often learn things about themselves from taking care of someone. How much do you:

	Not at all	Somewhat	Quite a bit	Completely
Believe you’ve learned how to deal with this very difficult situation
In general, feel competent as a support person

Since you’ve started helping the youth with their thoughts of suicide, how much have you:

	Not at all	Somewhat	Quite a bit	Completely
Become more aware of your inner strengths
Become more self-confident
Grown as a person
Learned to do things you didn’t do before

Communication quality

If you’re attending Skills for Safer Living with a youth, please think about your relationship with them when you answer these questions. If you’re attending on your own, think about a youth who you support with their mental health.

	Strongly disagree	Disagree	Nether agree or disagree	Agree	Strongly agree
I am satisfied with the quality of our communication
I make efforts to understand where they’re coming from when they’re talking about their mental health
When they tell me they’re having thoughts of suicide, I remain calm, listen, and we come up with a plan together
Talking with them helps me feel better about the situation

Table of Contents

Skills for Safer Living Pre-Program Survey for Support Person(s)