Assessing Changes in Anxiety, Empowerment, Stigma and Wellbeing in Participants Attending an Online-Based Recovery College in Quebec During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Pre-Experimental Study

Objectives: The present study aims to evaluate the effect of an online Recovery College (RC) program implemented in Quebec (Canada) during the COVID-19 pandemic. From October 2020 to June 2021, 27 training groups were conducted with a total of 362 attendees.Methods: Outcome was evaluated using a sin...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Filippo Rapisarda, Julio Macario de Medeiros, Catherine Briand, Antoine Boivin, Johana Monthuy-Blanc, Catherine Vallée, Marie-Josée Drolet, Brigitte Vachon, Francesca Luconi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-06-01
Series:International Journal of Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.ssph-journal.org/articles/10.3389/ijph.2022.1604735/full
Description
Summary:Objectives: The present study aims to evaluate the effect of an online Recovery College (RC) program implemented in Quebec (Canada) during the COVID-19 pandemic. From October 2020 to June 2021, 27 training groups were conducted with a total of 362 attendees.Methods: Outcome was evaluated using a single group repeated measure design, assessing participants prior the training (T0), after the training (T1) and at follow up (T2). 107 learners of the Quebec RC program attended three two-hour sessions agreed to participate to the research.Results: Overall findings show at T1 a small but statistically significant reduction of anxiety and increase in empowerment, and below threshold reduction of stigmatizing attitudes and increase of wellbeing. Conversely, the medium-term changes at follow up were non-significant for all the outcome dimension except for anxiety.Conclusion: Findings suggest that the RC online program can be considered as a potential effective strategy to support self-regulation and empowerment of individuals and to reduce anxiety in the context of crisis for the general population.
ISSN:1661-8564