CIHR Catalyst Grant : Crisis Line and App-based Support for Public Safety

Governance and Public Policy

Social Justice

Well-being, Health and Biomedical Discovery

Deadlines

Academic Unit: Inquire within unit

Memorial Deadline: Thursday 9th, November 2023

External Deadline: Wednesday 15th, November 2023

Description

The Post-Traumatic Stress Injuries in Public Safety Personnel (PTSI in PSP) initiative was announced in Budget 2018, with a commitment of $20 million over five years to support a new national research consortium between the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment (CIPSRT). This National Research Consortium builds the evidence base related to PTSI among PSP, under the guidance of a Public Safety Steering Committee (PSSC).

CIHR has previously completed two successful funding programs in this initiative; Catalyst Grants in Post-Traumatic Stress Injuries (PTSI) among Public Safety Personnel (2019), and Mental Wellness in Public Safety Team Grants (2020).

Working with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and the other groups above, CIHR developed the third and final funding program under this initiative. This third funding program includes three funding opportunities following a hub-and-spoke model; beginning with the Research and Coordination Hubs for Post-Traumatic Stress Injuries in PTSI in PSP (2021) and the first open ‘spokes’ funding opportunity Crisis Line and App-based Support for Public Safety (2022). The overarching design of this program is to build the evidence base around proper support models for PSP suffering from PTSI, using an implementation science lens.

This final funding opportunity is a re-launch of the Crisis Line and App-based Support for Public Safety from 2022 and is open to the broader research community. This funding will directly build on the work of the research and coordination hubs and will broaden the pool of potential research questions – and research groups – that can be addressed/funded. This funding opportunity is the final ‘spoke’ funding opportunity for this program.

There are two streams of research that are supported across all three funding opportunities (i.e., a three-staged approach with two parallel streams).

1. The first stream aims to build the evidence base for a crisis/suicide prevention line, leveraging PHAC’s support for the development of a pan-Canadian Suicide Prevention Service (CSPS), as announced in Budget 2019 and housed at the Centre for Addition and Mental Health (CAMH). This is now referred to as the RESPond Hub for Research in Suicide Prevention for Public Safety Personnel.
2. The second stream aims to build the evidence base for app-based peer-to-peer (P2P) support based at McMaster University, building on the work of one of the original PTSI in PSP Catalyst grants to create a pan-Canadian PSP support app (“OnCall”), in partnership with Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC).  This is now referred to as the PeerOnCall Hub for App-based Peer-to-Peer Support.

These streams were identified through extensive consultations with key stakeholders, and the two identified hubs representing the leading national activities in each of these areas.

The intent of this funding opportunity is to address innovative research questions related to the efficacy/effectiveness, feasibility, development and/or evaluation of best practices, guidance documents and uptake of both services by PSP.

Research Areas

This funding opportunity will support projects addressing research questions relevant to at least one of the two research streams supported through the Research and Coordination Hubs:

• RESPond Hub for Research in Suicide Prevention for Public Safety Personnel (CAMH), previously referred to as the CSPS Crisis/Suicide Prevention Line
• PeerOnCall Hub for App-based Peer-to-Peer Support (McMaster University), previously referred to as the “OnCall” app

Proposed research questions are expected to be developed and applied independently by applicants and may address any of the specific objectives of this funding opportunity. Funded research projects are to be undertaken in close collaboration with the Research and Coordination Hubs, using the core methodologies/technologies in place at the hubs as much as possible. Funded research projects are expected to refine their research questions in a collaborative fashion with the Research and Coordination Hubs. Examples of relevant research questions are provided below for each hub.

1. 1. RESPond Hub for Suicide Prevention

Areas for further investigation relevant for crisis services support for public safety personnel, may include (but are not limited to):

• Suicide prevention and crisis response needs for families and caregivers who support public safety personnel
• Suicide prevention and crisis response needs of public safety personnel, and their families, who have experienced suicide-related losses
• The unique strengths, needs, preferences and values of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis public safety personnel
• Identification of effective crisis interventions that support public safety personnel who are in suicide-related distress
• Role of digital tools to support suicide prevention and crisis response for public safety personnel
• Role of peer support as part of the crisis response service
• Development of training and support for crisis responders to meet the needs of public safety personnel
• Determination of specific or unique needs of public safety personnel who are already receiving mental health treatment or support
• The suicide prevention and crisis response’s needs of volunteer and retired public safety personnel

2. 2. PeerOnCall Hub for App-based Support

Areas for further investigation relevant for the PeerOnCall hub, may include (but are not limited to):

• The nature of peer support accessed by public safety personnel via the app
• The impact of peer support accessed via the app on public safety personnel and/or their caregivers and families
• The impact on peer providers of providing support via the app
• Providing additional training or feedback to peer providers via the app
• Determining the functionality of the app as a digital knowledge management tool
• Implementation science questions related to organizational and individual uptake and use of the app

Important Dates

Funding Sources

Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR)