A Qualitative Analysis of the Mental Health Training and Educational Needs of Firefighters, Paramedics, and Public Safety Communicators in Canada

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dc.contributor.authorLentz, Liana
dc.contributor.authorSmith-MacDonald, Lorraine
dc.contributor.authorMalloy, David, C.
dc.contributor.authorAnderson, Gregory, S.
dc.contributor.authorBeshai, Shadi
dc.contributor.authorRicciardelli, Rosemary
dc.contributor.authorBremault-Phillips, Suzette
dc.contributor.authorCarleton, R. Nicholas
dc.date.accessioned2023-01-24T19:46:21Z
dc.date.available2023-01-24T19:46:21Z
dc.date.issued2022-06-07
dc.description© 2022 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 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).en_US
dc.description.abstractBackground—Public safety personnel (PSP) are at heightened risk of developing mental health challenges due to exposures to diverse stressors including potentially psychologically traumatic experiences. An increased focus on protecting PSP mental health has prompted demand for interventions designed to enhance resilience. While hundreds of available interventions are aimed to improve resilience and protect PSPs’ mental health, research evidence regarding intervention effectiveness remains sparse. Methods—Focus groups with PSP elicited a discussion of psychoeducational program content, preferred modes of program delivery, when such training should occur, and to whom it ought to be targeted. Results—The results of thematic analyses suggest that PSP participants feel that contemporary approaches to improving mental health and resilience are lacking. While welcomed, the provision of sporadic one-off mental health and resilience programs by organizations was seen as insufficient, and the available organizational mental health supports were perceived as being questionable. The available programs also left participants feeling insufficiently prepared to deal with personal mental health problems and in discussing mental health concerns with co-workers. Conclusions—Participants reported needing more engaging methods for delivering information, career-long mental health knowledge acquisition, and a systems approach to improve the workplace culture, particularly regarding mental health.en_US
dc.description.authorstatusFacultyen_US
dc.description.peerreviewyesen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThis research work was supported by a Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR) Public Safety Personnel Catalyst Grant (FRN: 162528) and by an Alberta Health, Mental Health and Addiction COVID-19 Community Funding Grant (Grant: 011530).en_US
dc.identifier.citationLentz, L. M., Smith-MacDonald, L., Malloy, D., Anderson, G. S., Beshai, S., Ricciardelli, R., Bremault-Phillips, S., & Carleton, R. N. (2022). A qualitative analysis of the mental health training and educational needs of firefighters, paramedics, and public safety communicators in Canada. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(12), 6972.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19126972
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10294/15582
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Instituteen_US
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/*
dc.subjectmoral injuryen_US
dc.subjectpublic safety personnelen_US
dc.subjectparamedicsen_US
dc.subjectfirefightersen_US
dc.subjectpublic safety communicatorsen_US
dc.subjectmental healthen_US
dc.subjecttraumaen_US
dc.subjecteducationen_US
dc.subjecttrainingen_US
dc.titleA Qualitative Analysis of the Mental Health Training and Educational Needs of Firefighters, Paramedics, and Public Safety Communicators in Canadaen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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