Post-traumatic Stress Injuries (PTSI) among Public Safety Personnel (PSP)
Trauma- and stressor-related disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are prevalent in multiple sectors of the Canadian population. It is estimated that PTSD affects approximately 9% of Canadians at some point in their lives. The impacts of post-traumatic stress (PTS) extend beyond the individual, and can be long-lasting – affecting families, workplaces, and entire communities. PTS is best understood for its prevalence among military personnel and veterans, though it has also been recognized as a significant burden among public safety personnel (PSP).
Budget 2018 committed $20 million over five years to support a new joint initiative between the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment (CIPSRT) to address post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSI) among public safety personnel (PSP). CIHR, led by the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (CIHR-INMHA), has launched funding opportunities to fulfil this federal commitment and further our understanding of PTSI among PSP.
Please note: CIHR strategic research initiatives are funded through Institute strategic initiative budgets and/or dedicated funding from government and external partners. Funding for these initiatives is not sourced from CIHR’s Project Grant competition.
Partners
As part of The National Research Consortium for Post-traumatic Stress Injuries among Public Safety Personnel, the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment (CIPSRT) acts as a knowledge exchange hub, bringing together researchers funded through CIHR competitions with relevant stakeholders in order to coordinate activities and move the knowledge created into active use.
Public Safety Canada works closely with a broad stakeholder community, including all levels of government, along with other government departments and associations of first responders to develop a coordinated action plan on post-traumatic stress injuries in support of public safety personnel.
Funding
CIHR-INMHA leads the development of research funding opportunities to fill knowledge gaps on post-traumatic stress. In particular, the Institute has launched funding opportunities to support the creation of new knowledge to address existing and emerging gaps in PTS as it relates to PSP in Canada.
Catalyst Grant: PTSI among PSP workers
In March 2019, CIHR funded 22 grants through the Catalyst Grants in Post-Traumatic Stress Injuries (PTSI) among Public Safety Personnel funding opportunity. These projects primarily focus on understanding, identifying, mitigating and/or preventing PTSI and adverse mental health outcomes among PSP.
Team Grant: Mental Wellness in Public Safety Team Grants
In June 2019, CIHR funded 16 grants through the Mental Wellness in Public Safety Team Grants funding opportunity to support four-year projects designed to develop new research evidence and tools to address knowledge gaps in PTSI among PSP in Canada.
See competition results:
Operating Grant: Research and Coordination Hubs for Public Safety (Research and Coordination Hubs for Post-Traumatic Stress Injuries in Public Safety Personnel (PTSI in PSP))
In September 2021, CIHR launched the Research and Coordination Hubs for Public Safety funding opportunity as part of the third funding program under the PTSI in PSP Initiative.
Two (2) directed grants were funded in January 2022, under the Research and Coordination Hubs for Public Safety funding opportunity. This funding opportunity represents the first stage, to establish research and coordination hubs for each of the two recognized and established support streams: crisis/suicide prevention lines and app-based peer-to-peer support models.
This work was supported by the two subsequent catalyst grants which were open to the broader research community to work directly with the hubs.
Catalyst Grant : Crisis Line and App-based Support for Public Safety
This funding opportunity was comprised of two open calls or ‘spoke’ opportunities as part of the Research and Coordination Hubs for Public Safety program. It will directly build on the work of the research and coordination hubs and will broaden the pool of potential research questions – and research groups – that can be addressed/funded. Funded applicants will work directly with the hubs.
The first open call under this funding opportunity was launched in January 2022. The aim is to address innovative research questions related to the efficacy/effectiveness, feasibility, development and/or evaluation of best practices, guidance documents and uptake of both services by PSP. In October 2022, CIHR funded 2 catalyst grants under this funding opportunity.
The second open call under this funding opportunity was launched in April, 2023. This is the final 'spoke' funding opportunity for this program. The intent of this funding is similar to the first open call; and in March 2025, CIHR funded 4 catalyst grants under this funding opportunity.
Research and Coordination Hubs for Public Safety
The objective of the Research and Coordination Hubs for Public Safety program is to build the evidence base around effective support models for public safety personnel (PSP) experiencing post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSI), using an implementation science lens. A series of three sequential funding opportunities are planned, with two streams of research that will be supported across all three funding opportunities (i.e., a three-stage approach with two parallel streams).
The first stream aims to build the evidence base for a crisis/suicide prevention line, leveraging the support of Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) for the development of a pan-Canadian Suicide Prevention Service (CSPS). This was announced in Budget 2019 and the crisis/suicide prevention line will be housed at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).
The second stream is app-based peer-to-peer (P2P) support, building on the work of one of the original PTSI in PSP Catalyst grants to create a pan-Canadian PSP support app (“PeerOnCall”), in partnership with Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC). These streams were identified through extensive consultations with key stakeholders, and the two identified hubs represent the leading national activities in each of these areas.
In January 2022, CIHR funded the two recipients of the Research and Coordination Hubs for Public Safety funding opportunity. This funding opportunity represents the first stage, to establish research and coordination hubs for each of the two streams using a hub-and-spoke design. These hubs will serve dual roles:
- Undertake research activities to build the evidence base and address key underlying research questions around these support models for PSP, and
- Provide research supports for external independent research groups to address additional questions using the core technologies/methodologies available at the hubs.
Crisis/Suicide Prevention Line
A Theory and Practice Informed Approach to Crisis Intervention for Public Safety Personnel in Canada - Identifying Knowledge Gaps to Inform Action
Allison Crawford and Chantalle Clarkin
Principal investigators:
Allison Crawford and Chantalle Clarkin
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
App-Based Peer-to-Peer Support
"PeerOnCall" Peer-to-Peer Support: Research and Coordination Hub
Sandra Moll
Principal investigator:
Sandra Moll
McMaster University
This work was supported by two subsequent funding opportunities open to the broader research community to work directly with the hubs. The core objectives of these funding opportunities is to address the pressing needs of PSP organizations and support service providers in providing effective and evidence-based supports for PSP experiencing PTSI:
- Contribute to improved health of PSP with PTSI by generating evidence around the merit, validity, and appropriateness of the two targeted support systems.
- Assess the impacts of these two support systems on PSP, including through novel and innovative research approaches.
- Contribute to the development of sustainable support systems for PSP by catalyzing research on potentially effective support models (e.g., evidence summaries, best practices, and guidance documents).
News
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