Sask. offering new online therapy course to help parents with mental health

A new online therapy course for expecting and postpartum parents is aimed at addressing their mental health concerns.

The Wellbeing Course for New and Expecting Parents is a program offered through the University of Regina’s Online Therapy Unit that offers a free, online option for care to parents that’s meant to reduce barriers like time, distance and privacy.

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“Being able to provide free services that are convenient (and) available to people right across the province, I think that’s a win for new parents in Saskatchewan,” said Jeremy Cockrill, Saskatchewan’s health minister.

“I think that’s a win for the province as a total and, really, at the end of the day, it’s a win for the children if we can make sure that parents are healthy.”

Cockrill said the provincial government has provided $280,000 to start up the course, and another $100,000 to keep it running. He said the government still considers it a high priority to recruit in-person therapy professionals, but this is an option for barrier-free therapy that people in the province can access now.

“While we want to make in-person services available, not everybody may feel comfortable with that. It may not be convenient for them,” he said.

The program began taking clients in February and Dr. Heather Hadjistavropoulos, the program’s director, said she believes it will help bridge a gap in care for many parents.

“There’s so many barriers. There’s common ones that exist for lots of people. Maybe the rural and remote location, financial concerns or concerns about stigma,” she said.

She said many new and expecting parents are pressed for time, as they’re “juggling responsibilities” and might not be able to fit in-person services into their schedules.

Clients from different races, economic classes, and genders were taken into account when developing the program, Hadjistavropoulos explained.

“We do try and take into account this diversity, and that is actually something that’s really important to our research,” she said. “We’re interviewing clients as they go through, if they agree, and asking them about what could we do better over time.”

Hadjistavropoulos said she is expecting another few hundred people to take part in the program.

The University of Regina has been delivering Internet-delivered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy since 2015. That program is geared to help those experiencing addictions, chronic health conditions and mental health concerns in conjunction with the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

In a news release, the provincial government said 14,000 people have accessed services since it first began, and a total of $1.6M in funding has been provided to support the Internet therapy service.