Report Summary
On Friday 21 April 2023, the Scottish Police Authority convened a conference on mental health and trauma in policing. These slides detail the content from the day.
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Supporting the wellbeing of Scotland’s emergency service community - The Lifelines Scotland model
Gill Moreton Service Lead, Rivers Centre, NHS Lothian
What we’ve learned:
Most people respond to adversity with great fortitude
People experiencing trauma (including responders) are neither doomed nor invincible
Confusion and shame about being injured and/or a sense of being failed by the organisation are often the blocks to recovery
Traumatic experiences are not a diagnosis
Social support is at the heart of human resilience
Work with the emergency services
Treatment and training for police and fire service staff since 1998.
Most people respond to adversity with great fortitude
People experiencing trauma (including responders) are neither doomed nor invincible
Social support is everything
Confusion and shame about being injured and/or a sense of being failed by the organisation are often the blocks to recovery
Originally set up in 2016 to support volunteer emergency responders in Scotland
In 2019 expanded to support the wider Scottish emergency service community
NHS project supported and funded by Scottish Government, Police Scotland, Scottish Ambulance, Scottish Fire and Rescue and the Fire Fighters Charity.
Partnership model, allied with other national public health projects
Our Approach
Public health model
Focussed on prevention and early intervention to keep people stay safe and well from recruitment to retirement and beyond.
Can’t prevent exposure to potentially traumatic situations, can address organisational stressors
Making staff wellbeing mainstream – H&S assessments, absence management procedures
Embed wellbeing in core training – throughout career and especially for managers
Informal model of peer support - train everyone to be able to support a colleague
Not just about trauma – the everyday challenges staff face
Build on the things that protect us – social support, self-awareness, doing an important job to best of our abilities
Our protective armour
Role and identity as responders
Being able to distance ourselves
Expectation and readiness
Preparation and training
Sense of competence / expertise
Social support
Talking about it afterwards
Knowing ourselves and willing to seek help
Lara at SPPA
Advice and Consultation services
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Mental Health and Wellbeing Group
+ Document and Process, Learning and Development sub-groups
Scottish Ambulance Service Workforce Wellbeing Group
Retired Police Officers Association “Signposters” peer support project
Your Safety Matters working group
UKSAR Mental Health and Wellbeing working group
Voluntary Sector Resilience Partnership & Scottish Government’s Volunteering Action Plan
What have we learned?
There is appetite and passion to support mental health and wellbeing at all levels of all of the services but health and wellbeing services are stretched and changing culture and structures is hard
Operationalise your model
Be sure to make the most of this group’s ability to do extraordinary things under extraordinary circumstances
Embed principles and materials into Standard Operating Procedures
What have we learned?
Silos are the norm:
Don’t despair! Expect them and do everything you can to bridge them
Be careful not to compete with other initiatives
It will always take longer than you think:
especially when you’re trying to reach everyone
and when you’re an external partner
need funding to last long enough to make it mainstream
What have we learned?
Watch out for unintended consequences
The stories we tell about trauma matter.
It’s important we neither under or over-estimate the impact of trauma
Don’t move from invulnerability to doom
It really is all psychoeducation and social support
Asset-based approaches resonate with our community
People are remarkable. Injury isn’t inevitable. Recovery is possible
And finally…
It’s really hard to demonstrate the effectiveness of early intervention / preventative work
Especially as an external partner
But that doesn’t mean it’s not effective
And that it’s not the right thing to do
Thank you
info@lifelines.scot
@LifelinesScot
