Assessing the health, wellbeing and welfare of the first responder's community in the UK [Ref 4.01]

Academic team: Dr Virginia Harrison, Prof Graham Pike, Dr Helen King
Policing partners: National emergency responders
Status: Complete

Reduced service budgets, staffing shortages, stagnant pay and changes in roles of services are affecting services blue light services sense of integration and value. These organisational pressures combined with exposure to trauma have a concurrent effect on well-being and mental health.

Whilst there is a large volume of activity concerning well-being and resilience in the police force (research projects, intervention/support programmes and professional guidance) there is no nationally representative UK study of health, well-being and welfare of First Responders across all emergency services.

This pilot project is being undertaken in collaboration with Kings College London.  The CPRL component will review the current landscape of on-going research projects pertaining to the mental health, well-being and welfare of First Responders and their families.  

Outputs

TitleOutputs typeLead academicYear
Assessing the mental health and wellbeing of the Emergency Responder community in the UKFinal reportHarrison, V2020

News

Blog post - Evolving the CPRL Collaboratives: Connecting research, practice and national priorities

From October 2026, our Collaborative Research Seminar series will enter a new phase as part of the ongoing development of the Centre for Policing Research and Learning (CPRL). These Collaboratives will evolve over the summer alongside a refreshed governance structure, positioning them at the heart of how the Centre connects research, practice, and national policing priorities.

5th May 2026