First Responder and Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Research Development

By Melissa M. Labriola, Jill Portnoy Donaghy, Tiffany Keyes, Sarah Junghee Kang

oncerns about the physical health, mental health, and safety of first responders and law enforcement officers have been increasing for some time. The goal of this research is to synthesize evidence from the growing literature on mental health and wellness programs studied with law enforcement and first responder populations to help the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) identify and strengthen programs and policies and to conduct an evaluability assessment (EA) to provide direction for future research.

This report presents findings from multiple research tasks, including a review of domestic and international literature on first responder wellness programs and interviews with key stakeholders in DHS about existing DHS wellness programs, wellness program implementation, and subsequent challenges. Authors conducted an EA of programs identified as potentially ready for evaluation in the stakeholder interviews. The authors of this report synthesized the findings from these tasks to develop a research agenda for future DHS wellness research efforts.

Key Findings

• According to the literature within the scope of our parameters, the most studied wellness programs for law enforcement and first responders were group prevention skills and knowledge training, psychotherapy, physical fitness, and mindfulness training.

• According to our interviews, certain program types, such as suicide prevention training, physical fitness programs, mindfulness training, and mandatory postvention efforts, were generally viewed as effective.

• Overall, more research is needed with larger sample sizes, rigorous designs, and outcomes other than knowledge change.

• Some interviewees recommended adopting robust, evidence-informed, non-DHS programs and adapting them for DHS's population, with the related concern of the uniqueness of the agency and the applicability of programs designed for different populations.

• Stigma in seeking and receiving services is a critical barrier but, according to interviewees, might be improving.

• Organizational barriers to participation include (1) a lack of resources to fund programs and/or on-site mental health clinicians, (2) employees feeling that they do not have sufficient time to seek out support (especially employees who have very demanding roles), (3) employee concerns about confidentiality, (4) insufficient leadership support, and (5) a lack of awareness about the resources available to employees.

• More research is needed with larger sample sizes, rigorous designs, and outcomes other than knowledge change, such as mental health and wellness outcomes.

Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2025, 107p.