Grant: Operating Grant: SPOR iCT Rewarding Success - Development Grants

Public safety personnel (PSP) (e.g., correctional workers, 911 dispatchers, firefighters, paramedics, police officers) are often exposed to potentially traumatic events during the normal course of their jobs. Such experiences have shown to contribute to higher reported levels of symptoms related to mental disorders such as PTSD, compared to the general population. Mental health and addictions are clearly significant NL challenges that currently remain under-addressed. Results of recent research support a substantial need for early intervention, prevention, and treatment, of PSP, but in NL available treatment options and specialized clinicians to support PSP are insufficient. Problems include long appointment wait times, high (often unaffordable) treatment costs, and entirely absent supports in rural or remote regions. We are proposing the development and evaluation of an online early intervention-based treatment to help PSP with potential mental health issues. Using an internet-based program, we propose to offer internet Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (iCBT) support to PSP persons who may experience or be susceptible to mental health challenges. Stepped care iCBT is a well established intervention that potentially offers PSP an affordable, portable, confidential, and even anonymous mental health treatment option. Stepped care iCBT can enhance value-based health care by targeting user needs immediately and effectively and by offering resources where we do not have enough trained clinicians to satisfy demand in a timely manner, such as in rural and isolated communities. The purpose of this project is to: 1) develop customized pathways to care for diverse PSP groups; 2) customize online stepped care interventions for PSP, 3) implement iCBT online on an affordable, accessible, and expandable platform, in order to meet the mental health needs of NL in a preventative, intervention-based, accessible, immediate, customized manner for PSP.