The Road to Mental Readiness for First Responders: A Meta-Analysis of Program Outcomes.

Abstract

First-responder mental health, especially in Canada, has been a topic of increasing interest given the high incidence of poor mental health, mental illness, and suicide among this cohort. Although research generally suggests that resiliency and stigma reduction programs can directly and indirectly affect mental health, little research has examined this type of training in first responders. The current paper examines the efficacy of the Road to Mental Readiness for First Responders program (R2MR), a resiliency and anti-stigma program. The program was tested using a pre-post design with a 3-month follow-up in 5 first-responder groups across 16 sites. A meta-analytic approach was used to estimate the overall effects of the program on resiliency and stigma reduction. Our results indicate that R2MR was effective at increasing participants' perceptions of resiliency and decreasing stigmatizing attitudes at the pre-post review, which was mostly maintained at the 3-month follow-up. Both quantitative and qualitative data suggest that the program helped to shift workplace culture and increase support for others.