Brief mindfulness training for Canadian public safety personnel well-being

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) show promise for reducing operational stress injuries and burnout among public safety professionals (PSPs), but research adapting them for this high-risk population is still early. This literature review examines recent quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies to argue that Canada has contributed little to this evidence base. It calls for leaders and policymakers to support research on brief, culturally tailored MBIs that build sustainable skills in attention, awareness, and compassion, addressing both PSP well-being and social justice reform needs.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The body of research demonstrating the psychological and physiological benefits of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) is robust and spans decades, yet its adaptation for a population at significantly higher-than-average risk of negative health outcomes, operational stress injuries, moral injury, and burnout is in its infancy. Failing to address these risks has costs not just for the well-being of public safety professionals (PSPs), but for their families, their agencies, and their communities. Public safety work requires a high standard of ethical decision-making and compassionate contact with the communities served. The public safety oversight of agency, government, and training institutes must prepare its professionals to deliver exemplary levels of service as well as establish trauma-competent training and support frameworks that are evidence-based to protect PSP well-being. Remedying historically ineffective training with evidence-based models not only addresses the complexity of operational stress injuries (OSIs) but also the needs of social justice reform. Canada’s contribution to the body of research using evidence-based MBIs for PSP well-being is scarce. This literature review informs leaders, policymakers, change agents, and researchers not only of the need for such critical research in Canada, but of its current state and important considerations for its design. The efficacy of MBI is discussed, evaluating recent quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies towards charting a brief MBI (bMBI) logistically deliverable, attentive to the PSP cultural context needs and barriers, and which facilitates sustainable skill-building in attention, awareness, and compassion.