Police mental health program draws international attention
The Calgary Police Service says its mental health program is making a difference in reducing stigma and building resiliency within the force, and has now attracted the attention of law enforcement agencies from around the world.
Representatives from Scotland, the Netherlands and California attended a symposium held in Calgary in late September to learn about the service’s Road to Mental Readiness or R2MR program and are now looking to adopt a similar initiative, after hearing about the successes within the city’s police force.
And the facilitators who brought R2MR to the Calgary Police Service — the first municipal police organization in Canada to offer the program — are hoping the program’s reach will continue to grow.
“There have been some life-altering cases and game-changers for certain people,” said Kyle Clapperton, manager of the health, safety and wellness section at the Calgary Police Service. “We’re seeing a reduction in stigma and an uptick in seeking resources early. That’s a great positive of the program.”
City police first learned of the Department of National Defence’s R2MR program, used by members of the Canadian Armed Forces, in 2012, and started researching how they could reconfigure the program to fit a law enforcement context.
Sgt. Sergio Falzi, the Calgary Police Service’s peer support coordinator at the time, and Theresa Shaw, wellness co-ordinator, worked with the Mental Health Commission of Canada and Alberta Health Services to adapt R2MR as a pilot project. The program was later adopted by the police service in late 2014.
“What was really important for us was, the program needed to build resiliency and be taught at a peer level so that it became something that really became rooted and grounded into the Calgary Police culture,” Clapperton said.
Andrew Szeto, a researcher and associate professor with the University of Calgary’s department of psychology, said R2MR is geared toward stigma reduction, building resiliency, and teaching people to be more aware of the state of their mental health.
Members are trained to use evidence-based skills, including positive self-talk, smart goal-setting, visualization, and diaphragmatic breathing to help manage stress and increase performance. The skills are meant to be applied to work and personal life scenarios, he added.
“Obviously, policing is a stressful job. …,” Szeto said. “But really, the program is an excellent resource that helps police members increase their skills so they can deal with those stressors, the demands they experience in a policing environment.”
Clapperton couldn’t give specific examples, but says the tools can help officers when they attend calls.
“They can visualize some of the possibilities that are going to occur in the call and think about how they can respond to them. They can use diaphragmatic breathing to calm themselves, and be able to perform at a high level. It’s about controlling arousal and being ready to perform at their best.”
Szeto said he’s noticed, through focus groups and interviews, that members are accessing resources earlier and more frequently.
To date, nearly 2,000 members of the Calgary Police Service — about three-quarters of the force — have received the training, and more than 50 members have been coached to be peer trainers. The program is part of regular training for new recruits, and facilitators are currently testing a family version of the program.
Overall, about 8,000 members within law enforcement agencies across Canada — including in Edmonton, Vancouver, Quebec and the Maritimes — have received the training.