Mindarma is an evidence-based program (Joyce et al., 2019) adopted by many of Australia’s largest emergency services and frontline health agencies including NSW Ambulance, Ambulance Victoria, DFES WA, QFES, the Department of Communities and Justice NSW, Youth Justice NSW, NSW Health and Mercy Health, Victoria. Programs are fully customised for each agency. The program teaches proactive skills (cognitive strategies, mindfulness, self-compassion and self-care) proven to bolster psychological resilience, enhance wellbeing and increase early help-seeking behaviour (Couson et al., 2019; Joyce et al., 2019). Emerging neuroscientific research also highlights that these strategies can protect against Empathic Distress Fatigue(EDF) (Neff 2023; Hoffmeyer et al. 2020; Singer et al., 2014). EDF refers to a sense of emotional exhaustion, burnout and psychological distress which can emerge for those working in traumatic situations or who frequently witness or support others in distress/pain (Hofmeyer et al., 2020; Cocker & Joss 2016).

With learner permission, pre-training and post-training resilience scores (CDRISC-10) are collected. 4,150 frontline workers have shared their baseline data. A similar resilience profile emerged across all frontline groups, with 18.2% reporting low psychological resilience and 25% reporting below-average resilience. Low psychological resilience has previously been identified as a malleable risk factor for depression and PTSD among frontline workers (Wild et al., 2016; Joyce et al., 2019).

Pre-post data analyses also found a statistically significant increase in resilience among all groups of frontline workers (n= 803) post-training, with the strongest improvements found among the most vulnerable groups of workers (those reporting low or below-average resilience at baseline). These findings are consistent with the original randomised controlled trial (Joyce et al., 2019) and recent case studies (Barrett & Joyce 2022, Wooldridge & Joyce 2023). Research suggests that interventions focused on psychological skills development can play a central role in reducing risk and protecting frontline workers' mental health.