Program schedule

Details

September 20 to December 6, 2023

Date and time:

Wednesdays, 1pm - 2:30pm (Toronto time)

Location:

Zoom videoconferencing

Program objectives

At the end of this program, health-care providers will be able to:

  • Support public safety personnel (PSP) with complex mental health injuries that affect their ability to work 
  • Identify the unique features of PSP workplace cultures which may influence how PSP experience, report, and seek assistance for mental health concerns
  • Communicate and collaborate effectively with workplace parties, insurance and care providers to improve access to and quality of care for PSP

Cycle 1 schedule

Each session features a patient case presentation and discussion followed by a didactic presentation listed below.

Overview of the complexities of operational stress injuries among public safety personnel (PSP)

Learn about factors which might influence the development of an Operational Stress Injury (OSI) among PSP and how systems influence the well-being of PSP

Elizabeth Donnelly
Workplace culture

Learn about the unique factors of each PSP discipline to consider when determining a stay at work or return to work plan and understand elements of a prevention-based approach to psychological health and safety and worker wellbeing.

Tanya Morose
Common mental health presentations in public safety personnel (PSP)

Learn how to identify the most common mental health concerns that PSP may present with in healthcare settings and create a framework to distinguish the type and level of care that may be best suited to the PSP seen in treatment

Nadia Aleem
Organizational factors and public safety personnel mental health

Learn about organizational factors and their impact on PSP mental health and recognize which organizational factors can be modified

Megan Edgelow
The role of peer support in prevention, recovery and return to work

Learn the difference between formal and informal peer support for PSP, the goals of peer support for PSP, and to identify the desired characteristics of a peer supporter for PSP

Beth Milliard
Public safety personnel family and community supports

Learn about the impacts that public safety personnel (PSP) service has on PSP family members, to differentiate between the needs of support services for PSP members and that of PSP families, and to identify resources that are available for PSP and their families.

Scott Maxwell
Overview of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB)

Learn about the context for mental health claims at the WSIB, health care programs provided by the WSIB for public safety personnel (PSP), and the role of return to work services at WSIB

Vivian Sapirman
Providing trauma-informed virtual care

Learn about potential challenges when delivering trauma-informed care in a virtual setting, 
benefits of utilizing virtual care for the treatment of interpersonal trauma, and trauma-informed strategies for optimizing the delivery of virtual care. 

Dana Ross
Overview of evidence-based psychotherapeutic interventions for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Learn about current therapeutic interventions for PTSD that have empirical support, the degrees of evidence supporting the therapeutic interventions for PTSD, ways to adapt manualized treatments to address clinical complexities that present with PSP.

Megan McElheran
The role of Occupational Therapy in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Learn about occupational therapy practice with PSPs who have PTSD and how occupational therapists and other healthcare practitioners can collaboratively support a PSP to return to work (RTW)

 

Megan Edgelow
Barriers to return to work

Learn about common barriers to return to work (RTW) for PSP, how barriers can be modified, and how employers and healthcare practitioners can work collaboratively to support a PSP to RTW.

Megan Edgelow, Dwayne Van Eerd
Panel discussion: the voice of lived experience in the journey to recovery and wellness

Learn from those with lived experience as to what was helpful in allowing for and/or supporting care engagement, what was a barrier to supporting care engagement, and 
what they would like to see in healthcare for public safety personnel (PSP) in the future.