Project 456980

There are 636,000 self-reported cases of sexual assault (SA) in Canada annually, and nine out of ten persons who have experienced sexual assault (SA) are women. An alarming paradox is that while persons having experienced SA suffer significant adverse consequences of SA on their psychological, physical, and social functioning, they receive less support than victims of other traumatic events to overcome these difficulties. The RESILIENT platform (www.resilient.ulaval.ca) offers online self-treatment targeting post-traumatic stress, sleep and mood. Considering that access to mental health care for women victims of SA poses challenges due to emotional, cultural, social, and geographic factors, the objectives are to: 1. Evaluate the effectiveness of a three-iteration user-centered design approach to improve the usability and user experience of the platform; 2. Evaluate the effectiveness of the RESILIENT platform tailored to women who have experienced SA to reduce post-traumatic, depressive and insomnia symptoms. This study is innovative in the breadth of issues following an SA that it targets, aiming to address the mental health care needs of as many people as possible. The modality used - online self-treatment - has a direct impact on increasing access to a wide range of effective, evidence-based interventions. The proposal combines knowledge advancement and service to the community, integrating its partners at all stages of the research. Once developed, the platform will be accessible and rapidly disseminated to support mental health care for women who have experienced SA across Canada.