A Scoping Review of Trauma, Mental Health and First Responders in Australia

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Jones, Rikki
Jackson, Debra
Ranse, Jamie
Arena, Andrew
Clegg, Lisa
Sutton, Clare
Gayed, Aimee
Rice, Kylie
Usher, Kim
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2024
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Abstract

Exposure to traumatic and/or violent events is an inherent part of the first responder role, which increases the risk of developing acute and chronic mental health symptoms and conditions. Suicidality for Australian first responders have recently increased with prevalence considered much higher compared with the general population. To inform specific recommendations for Australian first responders, there is a need to establish what evidence is available regarding these issues within the Australian context. The aim of this scoping review was to explore the impacts of trauma on the mental health of Australian first responders, the strategies recommended to address these issues and any unique needs in rural contexts. A scoping review was undertaken following PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews. Peer-reviewed articles on Australian first responder mental health from seven databases were screened for inclusion. This review highlights that despite available evidence on the types of traumas and adverse mental health outcomes experienced, less evidence exists pertaining to intervention effectiveness. There are major gaps in evidence within rural and remote contexts which hinders effective planning and delivery of support for rural and regional first responders. Clinicians such as mental health nurses, particularly in rural areas, need to be aware of these gaps which impact planning and delivery of support and are in prime position to ensure screening, interventions and strategies are used and evaluated to determine their suitability for rural first responders.

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International Journal of Mental Health Nursing

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© 2024 The Author(s). International Journal of Mental Health Nursing published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

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This publication has been entered in Griffith Research Online as an advance online version.

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Jones, R; Jackson, D; Ranse, J; Arena, A; Clegg, L; Sutton, C; Gayed, A; Rice, K; Usher, K, A Scoping Review of Trauma, Mental Health and First Responders in Australia, International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 2024

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