Browsing by Author "Czarnuch, Stephen"

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    Canadian Public Safety Personnel (PSP) and Occupational Stressors: How PSP Interpret Stressors on Duty
    (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2020-07-01) Ricciardelli, Rosemary; Czarnuch, Stephen; Carleton, R. Nicholas; Gacek, James; Shewmake, James
    Canadian public safety personnel (e.g., correctional workers, firefighters) experience potential stressors as a function of their occupation. Occupational stressors can include organizational (e.g., job context) and operational (e.g., job content) elements. Operational stressors (e.g., exposures to potentially psychologically traumatic events) may be inevitable, but opportunities may exist to mitigate other occupational stressors for public safety personnel. Research exploring the diverse forms of stress among public safety personnel remains sparse. In our current qualitative study we provide insights into how public safety personnel interpret occupational stressors. We use a semi-grounded thematic approach to analyze what public safety personnel reported when asked to further comment on occupational stress or their work experiences in two open-ended comment fields of an online survey. We provide a more comprehensive understanding of how public safety personnel experience occupational stress and the stressors that are unique to their occupations. Beyond known operational stressors, our respondents (n = 1238; n = 828) reported substantial difficulties with organizational (interpersonal work relationship dynamics; workload distribution, resources, and administrative obligations) and operational (vigilance, work location, interacting with the public) stressors. Some operational stressors are inevitable, but other occupational stressors can be mitigated to better support our public safety personnel.
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    CCWORK Protocol: The longitudinal study of Canadian Correctional Workers’ Wellbeing, Organizations, Roles and Knowledge
    (BMJ Publishing Group, 2021-10-26) Ricciardelli, Rosemary; Andres, Elizabeth; Mitchell, Meghan; Quirion, Bastien; Groll, Dianne; Adorjan, Michael; Cassiano, Marcella Siqueira; Shewmake, James; Herzog-Evans, Martine; Moran, Dominique; Spencer, Dale, C.; Genest, Christine; Czarnuch, Stephen; Gacek, James; Cramm, Heidi; Maier, Katharina; Phoenix, Jo; Weinrath, Michael; MacDermid, Joy C.; McKinnon, Margaret; Haynes, Stacy; Arnold, Helen; Turner, Jennifer; Eriksson, Anna; Heber, Alexandra; Anderson, Gregory S.; MacPhee, Renée, S.; Carleton, R. Nicholas
    Introduction Knowledge about the factors that contribute to the correctional officer’s (CO) mental health and well-being, or best practices for improving the mental health and well-being of COs, have been hampered by the dearth of rigorous longitudinal studies. In the current protocol, we share the approach used in the Canadian Correctional Workers’ Well-being, Organizations, Roles and Knowledge study (CCWORK), designed to investigate several determinants of health and well-being among COs working in Canada’s federal prison system.
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    Fit for public safety: Informing attitudes and practices tied to the hiring of public safety personnel
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 2019-09-25) Ricciardelli, Rosemary; Andres, Elizabeth; Kaur, Navjotpal; Czarnuch, Stephen; Carleton, R. Nicholas
    Recent recognition that public safety personnel (PSP) have a high prevalence of mental disorders has initiated a discussion around PSP mental readiness for their work. The discussions have raised new interest in potential protective factors or characteristics of PSP that may be identifiable at recruitment and used to mitigate mental disorders among high-exposure occupations. We draw on a pan-Canada study of mental disorder prevalence to understand the personal characteristics and factors that a sample of active PSP believe will impact the occupational success of recruits. We situate our work within the broader discussion of the expression of a shared responsibility between PSP recruits and PSP organizations, exploring how PSP perceive and describe hiring practices across public safety occupations. Our results indicate that accountability is currently placed on individual PSP to fully understand, in advance, the complexities and pressures inherent to their occupation. Accordingly, participants expressed a need for more scrupulous screening processes designed to recruit candidates who are ‘fit’ for the job, along with a belief that some recruits could be considered ‘unfit’ for employment, such as persons without an innate mental capability for PSP work. Cautions around unpacking the consequences versus ‘perceived’ need to properly screen individuals for their suitability as a PSP are discussed as well as the expressed co-responsibility of potential PSP and PSP organizations during hiring to learn about the job as a means to improve the mental health and wellbeing of the future PSP workforce.
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    Mental Health Training, Attitudes Towards Support, and Screening Positive for Mental Disorders
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 2019-02-22) Carleton, R. Nicholas; Afifi, Tracie O.; Turner, Sarah; Taillieu, Tamara L.; Vaughan, Adam V.; Anderson, Gregory S.; Ricciardelli, Rosemary; MacPhee, Renée, S.; Cramm, Heidi; Czarnuch, Stephen; Hozempa, Kadie; Camp, Ronald D.
    Public Safety Personnel (PSP; e.g. correctional workers, dispatchers, firefighters, paramedics, police) are frequently exposed to potentially traumatic events (PTEs). Several mental health training program categories (e.g. critical incident stress management (CISM), debriefing, peer support, psychoeducation, mental health first aid, Road to Mental Readiness [R2MR]) exist as efforts to minimize the impact of exposures, often using cognitive behavioral therapy model content, but with limited effectiveness research. The current study assessed PSP perceptions of access to professional (i.e. physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, employee assistance programs, chaplains) and non-professional (i.e. spouse, friends, colleagues, leadership) support, and associations between training and mental health. Participants included 4,020 currently serving PSP participants. Data were analyzed using cross-tabulations and logistic regressions. Most PSP reported access to professional and non-professional support; nevertheless, most would first access a spouse (74%) and many would never, or only as a last resort, access professional support (43–60%) or PSP leaders (67%). Participation in any mental health training category was associated with lower (p < .01) rates for some, but not all, mental disorders, with no robust differences across categories. Revisions to training programs may improve willingness to access professional support; in the interim, training and support for PSP spouses and leaders may also be beneficial.
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    Public Safety Personnel's interpretations of potentially traumatic events
    (Oxford University Press, 2020-02-10) Ricciardelli, Rosemary; Czarnuch, Stephen; Afifi, Tracie O.; Taillieu, Tamara L.; Carleton, R. Nicholas
    Background Many public safety personnel (PSP) experience trauma directly or indirectly in their occupational role, yet there remain barriers to accessing care or seeking help.