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

Research concerning the effects of trauma exposure among public safety personnel (PSP) focuses primarily on its emotional consequences (e.g., increased irritability; hypervigilance) with little attention paid to the effects of trauma exposure on cognition. Critically, persistent cognitive difficulties (e.g., in concentration and planning) have been observed among PSP with post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSI), including those exposed to the 9/11 attacks. Difficulties with memory, concentration and planning reduce the ability to benefit from therapy and from medications available for treatment of PTSIs, and are associated with poor functional outcomes, including the ability to return to work and to function within a family. Despite this knowledge, very little attention has been paid to treatment approaches that seek to reduce cognitive difficulties among individuals with PTSIs, and, no work has addressed this issue among PSP. Not only is there an urgent need to identify evidence-based interventions for treatment of changes in cognitive functioning among PSP with PTSI, but it is also critical that research identify clearly any changes in brain structure and functioning that may occur as the result of participation in this cognitive intervention. Utilizing a highly experienced, multi-disciplinary team of clinicians, social and health scientists, and policy makers, we propose to examine the effectiveness of a well-established cognitive remediation strategy, Goal Management Therapy, aimed at improving cognitive functioning among PSP with PTSIs. In addition, we will examine expected changes in functioning (e.g., return to work) and in brain structure and brain functioning immediately following treatment and at three months post treatment. Working with the Public Services Health and Safety Association, we will widely disseminate our study findings in order to assist in reducing the tremendous burden of trauma-related illness among PSP in Canada and internationally.