Implementing workplace mental health interventions in public safety organizations

Workplace mental health is relevant to public safety organizations due to the exposure that many public safety personnel (PSP) have to psychological trauma in the course of their daily work. While the importance of attending to PSP mental health has been established, the implementation of workplace mental health interventions is not as well understood. This webinar will present a scoping review that found 89 relevant citations that were largely published within the last decade, most frequently from Western nations, and most often applied to police, followed by firefighters. Interventions focused most often on stress management and resilience, and a frequent implementation strategy was multi-session group training. Comprehensive quality improvement initiatives, a focus on supervisors and managers, and interventions across primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention, were infrequent. A focus across a range of PSP, including paramedics, corrections officers, and emergency dispatchers, using implementation strategies beyond group training, is suggested. Participants will have the chance to discuss this review and consider the application of its finding to their public safety settings.

December 9, 2021.