Read the findings of the study
Lay summary
The purpose of this project was to understand whether and how potentially morally injurious events (events that don’t align with or violate one’s moral or ethical beliefs and lead to important emotional responses) and the concepts of moral distress and moral injury are relevant to public safety personnel, including paramedics, communications officers, and equipment and supply technicians.
This project also aimed to uncover the potential impacts of those experiences, as well as if and how peer support is helpful in making sense of them.
Lastly, the project explored how peer support programs could focus on moral distress and moral injury in their curriculum. By learning more about how these personnel make sense of, and cope with, potentially morally injurious events with the support of their peers, we aimed to equip these peers to provide that support.
Scientific summary
Attention to the potential for moral injury in healthcare, public safety and related frontline occupations has grown over the past decade and has increased dramatically since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals in these roles are exposed to a variety of endemic and potentially traumatic stressors, and they frequently face situations that may result in moral injury. The application of the construct of moral injury in different frontline contexts indicates that there is an urgent need to better understand the nature and effects of potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) in specific populations such as public safety personnel (PSP), where the concept has not been widely applied. This project aimed to: (1) identify what categories of events PSP might experience as morally challenging, distressing or PMIEs, (2) examine the contextual factors that limit or enable them to act in accordance with their values,(3) explore how PSP make sense of and cope in the face of these events, (4) determine if and how PSP engage peers as part of this process, and (5) identify if there are skills, competencies or practices that can enhance peer support for PSP who have been exposed to such events.
