Recommendations to improve the mental health of emergency responders

A new report out this week (6 July 2020), makes recommendations to improve the mental health of emergency responders.

The report, Assessing the mental health and wellbeing of the Emergency Responder community in the UK, based on research conducted by the OU’s Centre for Policing Research and King’s College London, identified a need to better understand several areas of wellbeing in those who respond to emergencies, such as self-harm, suicide, alcohol and substance misuse, sleep, bullying, financial concerns and the positive outcomes of working in this sector.

The Principal Investigator at the OU, Dr Gini Harrison in the OU’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, said:

“The project has highlighted the intense pressures on emergency responders’ mental health and wellbeing, and we believe the recommendations of this new report provide a useful road map of priorities.

“By working with excellent partners at the King’s Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) and through the Royal Foundation Emergency Responder Stakeholder Group, we have brought together knowledge across the sector, from research, policy and practice for the first time in this report."

Find out about research at the OU’s Centre for Policing Research and Learning