How have public safety personnel seeking digital mental healthcare been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic? An exploratory mixed methods study

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dc.contributor.authorMcCall, Hugh
dc.contributor.authorBeahm, Janine
dc.contributor.authorLandry, Caeleigh
dc.contributor.authorHuang, Ziyin
dc.contributor.authorCarleton, R. Nicholas
dc.contributor.authorHadjistavropoulos, Heather
dc.date.accessioned2023-03-06T15:55:35Z
dc.date.available2023-03-06T15:55:35Z
dc.date.issued2020-12-13
dc.description© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).en_US
dc.description.abstractPublic safety personnel (PSP) experience unique occupational stressors and suffer from high rates of mental health problems. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted virtually all aspects of human life around the world and has introduced additional occupational stressors for PSP. The objective of this study was to explore how PSP, especially those seeking digital mental health services, have been affected by the pandemic. Our research unit, PSPNET, provides internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy to PSP in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. When the pandemic spread to Saskatchewan, PSPNET began inquiring about the impact of the pandemic on prospective clients during the eligibility screening process. We used content analysis to analyze data from telephone screening interviews (n = 56) and descriptive statistics to analyze data from a questionnaire concerning the impacts of COVID-19 (n = 41). The results showed that most PSP reported facing several novel emotional challenges (e.g., social isolation, boredom, anger, and fear) and logistical challenges (e.g., related to childcare, finances, work, and access to mental healthcare). Most participants indicated they felt at least somewhat afraid of contracting COVID-19 but felt more afraid of their families contracting the virus than themselves. However, few participants reported severe challenges of any kind, and many (40%) indicated that they had not been significantly negatively impacted by the pandemic. Overall, the results suggest that PSP are not expressing significant concern at this time in meeting the novel challenges posed by COVID-19. Continued research will be required to monitor how diverse PSP populations and treatment outcomes are affected by the pandemic as the situation evolves.en_US
dc.description.authorstatusFacultyen_US
dc.description.peerreviewyesen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThis research was conducted by PSPNET, which is funded by the Canadian Government’s Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.en_US
dc.identifier.citationMcCall, H. C., Beahm, J. D., Landry, C. A., Huang, Z., Carleton, R. N., & Hadjistavropoulos, H. D. (2020). How have public safety personnel seeking digital mental healthcare been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic? An exploratory mixed methods study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17. 9319. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249319en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17249319
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10294/15831
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Instituteen_US
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/*
dc.subjectpublic safety personnelen_US
dc.subjectfirst respondersen_US
dc.subjectCOVID-19en_US
dc.subjectcoronavirusen_US
dc.subjectpandemicen_US
dc.subjectmental healthen_US
dc.subjectinternet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapyen_US
dc.titleHow have public safety personnel seeking digital mental healthcare been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic? An exploratory mixed methods studyen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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