What s Ahead in Use of Technology and Online Counselling?

Transcription

1 Kids Help Phone APRIL 3, 2014 Alisa Simon, VP, Counselling Services and Programs & Carolyn Mak, Director, Knowledge Mobilization What s Ahead in Use of Technology and Online Counselling? Findings from practice and service evaluations

2 This service is excellent and it is a lot safer than calling because there when you do this you wont get caught but you might when you call

3 Kids Help Phone Fostering Mental Health and Well-Being in Young People Across Canada 1 2 Mission, Vision & Services Mobile & Online Tools 5 6 Evaluation of Live Chat Lessons Learned 3 4 Critical Path to Evaluation Evaluation of Live Chat 7 Q & A

4 1 Mission, Vision & Services

5 1 Mission, Vision & Services OUR MISSION Kids Help Phone will improve the wellbeing of children and youth in Canada by providing them anonymous and confidential professional counselling, referrals 2 and information in English and French through technologically-based communications media.

6 1 Mission, Vision & Services 2

7 1 Mission, Vision & Services 2

8 1 Mission, Vision & Services Helping Young People Nine Options for Accessing Support 2

9 1 Mission, Vision & Services Helping Young People Nine Options for Accessing Support Ask Us Online where kids can post a question an receive a personalized, written answer from a counsellor 2

10 1 Mission, Vision & Services Helping Young People Nine Options for Accessing Support 2

11 1 Mission, Vision & Services Helping Young People Nine Options for Accessing Support Counselling by Live Chat began as a pilot in 2012, and now runs Thursdays through Sundays, 6pmmidnight EST. 2

12 1 Mission, Vision & Services Helping Young People Nine Options for Accessing Support The Always There Mobile App allows us to meet youth where they are - online and mobile. 2

13 1 Mission, Vision & Services Helping Young People Nine Options for Accessing Support Kids Help Phone has developed and maintains the largest Community Resource Database for children and youth and young adults in Canada. 2 The database holds over 46,000 programs serving more than 17,500 communities across Canada.

14 1 Mission, Vision & Services Helping Young People Nine Options for Accessing Support Kids Help Phone has 4 distinct websites (Teen and Kids, in English and French) offering young people a place to go for age-appropriate, web-based counselling services. 2 Our youth website has recently been recognized as the gold standard, receiving the Summit Creative Silver Award by an international jury Over 5 million page views a year

15 1 Mission, Vision & Services TEENS WEBSITE Info Booth: Cyberbullying

16 1 Mission, Vision & Services 2

17 12 MOBILE AND ONLINE TOOLS

18 2 Mobile & Online Tools Development of Mobile & Online Tools Based on demand from the youth Based on a source document of best practices Clinical goals are established Team builds the content Extensive youth testing through many parts of the process Launch and evaluation

19 2 Mobile & Online Tools/ Games and Tools Each game has a clinical goal

20 2 Mobile & Online Tools/ Games and Tools There are a variety of formats for different tools

21 2 Mobile & Online Tools/ Games and Tools Based on the Wheel of Created with youth input

22 2 Mobile and Online Tools/ Always There Created with youth input every step of the way Providing self supporting tools youth requested: Information on emotional heath issues and advice for dealing with violence and abuse Providing space to reflect: Info Booth, Stressbusters, Feelings Log Immediately connecting youth with a professional Kids Help Phone counsellors (Phone or Live Chat) Available on: ios, BlackBerry, and Android devices

23 2 Mobile & Online Tools/ Always There Thinking in the moment: young people are encouraged emotionally check in Emoticons appeal to current youth trends & lend to all various forms of expression Space to take a deep breath, laugh and review some valuable tips Immediately connects youth with a Kids Help Phone counsellor

24 2 Mobile and Online Tools/ Always There Mobile site content

25 2 Mobile and Online Tools/ Resources Around Me Young people will be able to access our Community Resource Database through a new tool, Resources Around Me, on both our English and French websites as well as our mobile app, Always There.

26 2 Mobile & Online Tools/ Resources Around Me After selecting a location, users can select different categories (such as counselling or housing ) to look for local resources that will be pinned to a map.

27 6 Mobile & Online Tools/ Resources Around Me After clicking on a local resource, youth will be provided information about that service including details such as hours of operation, address and phone number.

28 2 Mobile & Online Tools/ Resources Around Me Items can be saved to a My List and cleared later if desired.

29 13 CRITICAL PATH TO EVALUATION

30 3 Critical Path to Live Chat Live Chat Service A B C D E Clarify Principles Survey Users Literature Review Discussion with Organizations Review Organizational Capacity = Decision to move forward with Chat

31 14 STEPS TO IMPLEMENTATION

32 4 Live Chat Implementation Youth Engagement Besides survey, young people were asked about their preferred interface Team approach including use of a Children s Writer and Graphic Designer

33 4 Live Chat Implementation Technological Steps Surveyed Chat technology Created and built internal Live Chat technology to fulfill promise of anonymity other programs on the market did not include this feature The hours of service were selected based on a review of traffic patterns for our phone and web contacts Preparing Counsellors Wrote Live Chat training manual for counsellors Guidelines Based on the model of brief, solution-focused counselling

34 4 Live Chat Implementation Transferring skills for online counselling Many foundational counselling skills are transferable Unique challenges No visual cues No verbal cues Challenges reading subtlety or nuance Responding to a Chat session Need to develop an understanding of the person chatting ( the chatter ) by looking at all the information he/she has given Emoticons Nickname Cognitive level of the chatter Age Content of the Chat

35 5 EVALUATION 1 OF LIVE CHAT

36 5 Evaluation of Live Chat

37 5 Evaluation of Live Chat Who is Contacting Us on Live Chat How many times have you contacted Kids Help Phone? (n= 311) 10% 8% 8% 39% This is the first time 1-5 times 6-10 times 35% times More than 20 times

38 5 Evaluation of Live Chat Self-identified reason for chatting (n= 317, multi-choice) Substance use or addictions (3%) Information about laws or rights (3%) Sexual orientation or gender identity (3%) Becoming independent (6%) 19 Bullying (8%) Physical or sexual health (9%) School (14%) Violence or abuse (15%) Suicide (18%) Self-injury (19%) Dating (23%) 73 Friend/peer relationships (32%) Family relationships (35%) Mental or emotional health (41%) # of respondents

39 5 Evaluation of Live Chat Why Live Chat? I feel too nervous or uncomfortable to call (75%) Because you're anonymous nobody will know that it s me or tell on me (75%) I don t have enough privacy to talk on the phone (62%) I can t talk to anyone around me (53%) I didn t know any services where I live that could help me (18%)

40 LIVE CHATTERS DISTRESS BEFORE Percentage of respondents 0 High distress Neutral No distress

41 LIVE CHATTERS DISTRESS AFTER Percentage of respondents High distress Neutral No distress

42 The counsellor made me feel like I wasn t alone and that it s normal for me to feel anxiety about what s going on, and that things will get better

43 LIVE CHATTERS CLARITY BEFORE Percentage of respondents Not at all clear Neutral Very clear

44 LIVE CHATTERS CLARITY AFTER Percentage of respondents Not at all clear Neutral Very clear

45 LIVE CHATTERS CONFIDENCE BEFORE Percentage of respondents 0 Not at all confident Neutral Very confident

46 LIVE CHATTERS CONFIDENCE AFTER Percentage of respondents Not at all confident Neutral Very confident

47 I worked up the guts to talk to my folks about what I m going through and how I want to deal with this

48 5 Evaluation of Live Chat 75% of Live Chat clients experienced a reduction in distress. 71% of Live Chat clients experienced an increase in clarity on how to move forward.

49 16 LESSONS LEARNED

50 5 Lessons Learned Need for specialized training Chat and telephone counselling skills are unique and sessions look different Ensure counsellor supports are in place Length of counselling sessions by chat An average chat time is 44 minutes while a phone call is on average 15 ½ minutes long Need to stay open to mobile technology 18% of respondents noted that they chatted via their phone or mobile device Chat is another medium to provide referrals 24% of respondents noted that they received a referral Young people still want to use all three channels to receive counselling Demand for counselling continues to be consistent

51 5 Lessons Learned Primary Benefits of Live Chat: It allows young people to contact us if phoning is not an option for them. Privacy Fear of talking to a stranger, fear of crying, fear of not being able to express the problem clearly. It allows clients to really say what s on their mind. Young people are very comfortable with chatting and it helps the flow of conversations. Reaching youth who have not accessed our other services. Chat is motivating for counsellors as it allows them to learn new abilities.

52 Our Funding Reality

53 I just want you to remember that you DO make a Q difference & for A kids like me. You made an awesome difference in my whole entire life. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! (posted to kidshelpphone.ca) Je tenais à ce que vois sachiez que Jeunesse J êcoute a jouê un rôle vital durant mon adolescence. (un message affiché à Pose ta question en ligne) If you know a young person who is struggling with a problem, big or small, please encourage them to visit kidshelpphone.ca or jeunessejecoute.ca or call today. 53