I did not conduct any “research”, and therefore did not need any IRB approval or special certificates in order to accomplish any of the goals that had been set forth for my internship. Recruitment of the population, while not necessary, was conducted through the behavioral health building at the VA. Potential participants were given a flyer to look over, and if interested were referred to the program through their case manager. Potential eligibility was determined by behavioral health personnel at the VA. Only those individuals characterized as having severe mental illnesses (SMI’s) were looked at as potential participants, as these are the types of individuals for whom the camp is geared towards. Final evaluation of eligibility was determined by Camp Wellness personnel. Data collection was conducted through multiple participant surveys. These surveys were on a voluntary basis, and so the numbers do not necessarily reflect a “true” average. Surveys conducted were used to determine participant satisfaction both before, and after successful completion of the program. Surveys were also used to establish a baseline for each individual participant regarding their individual competence in the life skills areas being …show more content…
For instance, some of the survey questions were assigned a point value from 1-5, with 1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”. There were also yes/no questions, multiple choice questions, and also open ended questions. The multiple choice questions were assigned a point value of their own because some of the questions had a different number of answers. The open ended questions were not able to be assigned a point value system because of the infinite potential of different answers, because of this we “grouped” like answers, and used the data in this way. Surveys conducted were on an anonymous basis to protect participant privacy, and also to encourage honesty when