Frequently Asked Questions

This study is open to both trainees and practicum supervisors with experience at Kickstand sites in Alberta.

• Trainees: You are eligible if you are nearing the end of a current practicum placement at a Kickstand site, or completed a placement at a Kickstand site within the past 12 months.
• Supervisors: You are eligible if you have supervised at least two trainees completing practicum placements at Kickstand sites within the past two years.

You can check the Kickstand website to see a list of Kickstand communities across Alberta. If you’re still not sure whether your practicum site is part of Kickstand, please contact the research team at IYSTrainingStudy@ucalgary.ca and we will help you determine if you are eligible to participate.

Yes. You do not need to be currently enrolled as a student to participate. If you completed a practicum placement at a Kickstand site within the past 12 months, you may still be eligible even if you have since graduated. Your eligibility is based on when and where you completed your practicum, not your current student status.

The trainee survey takes approximately 20–30 minutes to complete. The supervisor survey is shorter and takes approximately 2–5 minutes.

No. Participation is voluntary, and you can skip any questions you do not wish to answer. You can also stop the survey at any time without consequence to your training, academic or employment status.

It depends on whether you are participating as a trainee or supervisor.

Trainees: At the end of the survey, you can indicate whether you are willing to be contacted about an optional follow-up interview. A subset of trainees who indicate they are interested will be invited to participate. Indicating interest does not guarantee that you will be selected for an interview. The interview takes approximately one hour.

Supervisors: The interview is a core part of your participation in the study. The brief supervisor survey collects background information that helps the research team prepare for the interview. After you complete the survey and consent to being contacted, a member of the research team will email you to schedule a 45–60 minute interview about your experiences supervising trainees and your perspectives on future training and supports.

Trainees who complete the survey will receive a $10 Everything Card by email. At the end of the survey, you will be asked to provide your name and email address for electronic delivery of the gift card. This information is collected separately from your survey responses to protect your confidentiality.

Gift cards will typically be emailed within one week of completing the survey. Participants who complete a follow-up interview will receive an additional $25 Everything Card by email.

Yes. Your responses will be kept confidential and reported only in aggregate or de-identified form. Your contact information is stored separately from your research data and is only accessible to authorized members of the research team.

Additional steps will be taken to protect confidentiality when reporting findings. For example, if there are fewer than five participants from a particular Kickstand site or organization, their data will be combined with data from other sites. Any quotes used from interviews will also be fully de-identified.

No. The research team will not tell your supervisor, employer, university, academic program or practicum site whether you participated in the study. Your responses will not be shared with them in an identifiable way.

Findings will only be reported in aggregate or de-identified form so that individual participants cannot be identified.

No. Participation is voluntary, and your decision to participate—or not participate—will not affect your practicum, academic or employment status.

The information you provide will not be used to evaluate individual trainees, supervisors, staff, practicum sites or other organizations. Your responses about your practicum, supervision or workplace experiences will not be shared in an identifiable way with supervisors, employers, academic programs, practicum sites or trainees.

Findings will be used to better understand trainee and supervisor experiences within Kickstand, including how trainees are prepared, supported and supervised and where there may be opportunities for additional training or support. The findings will help inform the development of a pilot training program at the University of Calgary.

We will look for common themes and patterns across participants rather than evaluating individual trainees, supervisors, programs, organizations or Kickstand sites. Findings will be shared in aggregate or de-identified form so that individual participants cannot be identified.

Findings will be shared with the University of Calgary research team and study partners, including Kickstand and the IYS Collaboration Centre at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. They may also be shared through reports, publications, presentations, this website and other knowledge mobilization activities.

Yes. At the end of the survey, you can indicate that you would like to receive a summary of the study findings once the analysis is complete. You will be asked to provide an email address so we can send the summary to you. Your contact information will be collected and stored separately from your survey responses.

Because the study and analysis will take time to complete, please provide an email address that you expect to have access to for at least the next 12–18 months. Findings will also be shared on this website as they become available.

No. Findings will be reported in aggregate or de-identified form, and no individual participant, organization, training program or Kickstand site will be identified in reports or publications.

If there are fewer than five participants from a particular site or organization, their data will be combined with data from other sites to help protect confidentiality. Any quotes used to illustrate key themes will also be fully de-identified.