Grant: Team Grant: Mental Wellness in Public Safety Team Grants - LOI

Public safety personnel (PSP) have regular exposure to potentially traumatic events at work and therefore are at higher risk for developing mental health problems such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), panic disorder (PD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and social anxiety disorder (SAD). They are also prone to drug and alcohol use disorder (AUD) (Carleton et al. 2018). Different studies have shown suicidal ideation, attempt and death among this population is up to 4 times higher compare to general population (Stanley et al. 2016). Despite the high rate of mental health problems among PSPs, their willingness to receive mental healthcare support is fairly low (Carleton et al. 2019), mainly due to the stigma attached to these disorders (Ricciardelli et al. 2018). Nevertheless, even if they would like to seek help, in many cases, their irregular shift hours limit their access to resources otherwise available to the public. That is why developing innovative solutions to address PSP's mental health should be a healthcare priority.