Three Years of Tiered Mental Health Support Through the National Emergency Worker Support Service
Tracks
Monarch - In-Person Only
| Tuesday, March 4, 2025 |
| 1:00 PM - 1:20 PM |
| Monarch Room |
Overview
Dr Andrew Arena, Black Dog Institute
Presenter
Dr Andrew Arena
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Black Dog Institute
Three Years of Tiered Mental Health Support Through the National Emergency Worker Support Service
Presentation Overview
Background: There is a need to have comprehensive, evidence-based mental health supports in place for frontline emergency service workers across the country, and to be prepared to deal with the mental health impacts of disasters as they arise. The National Emergency Worker Support Service (NEWSS) offers a unique model of mental health support for this population, by providing a national-level evidence-based service with a digital hub and individualized support options based one’s level of need and location. The key components and outcomes of the service are described across the first three years since its launch.
Method: NEWSS contains various components, including an online hub (website), online mental health check, digital informational resources, free clinical care, and training for GPs and allied health professionals. Data were gathered from users across varied components, tracking the amount of service use, user characteristics and outcomes.
Results: From November 2020 to November 2023, there were 122,939 unique visitors to the online hub, with an average of 112 daily visits. The total number of mental health checks completed was 16,732, with 41% of completers likely suffering from PTSD, and approximately 41% of completers had not seen a health professional about their mental health. For those clients with a PTSD diagnosis seeking clinical care, a majority of sessions were conducted digitally, and two thirds of clients no longer had PTSD following treatment.
Conclusions: There is a clear need and appetite for a national-level, multi-component mental health service for emergency workers. NEWSS has demonstrated good reach and uptake, including among workers not currently captured by mental health services, and clear effectiveness for treating PTSD. Such a service shows promise for the sector to remain proactively prepared for times of crisis when there is an increased need for mental health support among frontline emergency workers.
Presentation Key Learnings:
1. There is a clear need and appetite for a national-level, multi-component mental health service for emergency workers, with a high volume of users of the National Emergency Worker Support Service (NEWSS).
2. 41% of those completing an online mental health check presented with likely PTSD, and 41% of completers were not already captured within mental health services.
3. Offering free clinical services for PTSD with telehealth options is a viable method of reaching at-need workers across the country, with two thirds of those completing treatment for PTSD fully recovering.
Method: NEWSS contains various components, including an online hub (website), online mental health check, digital informational resources, free clinical care, and training for GPs and allied health professionals. Data were gathered from users across varied components, tracking the amount of service use, user characteristics and outcomes.
Results: From November 2020 to November 2023, there were 122,939 unique visitors to the online hub, with an average of 112 daily visits. The total number of mental health checks completed was 16,732, with 41% of completers likely suffering from PTSD, and approximately 41% of completers had not seen a health professional about their mental health. For those clients with a PTSD diagnosis seeking clinical care, a majority of sessions were conducted digitally, and two thirds of clients no longer had PTSD following treatment.
Conclusions: There is a clear need and appetite for a national-level, multi-component mental health service for emergency workers. NEWSS has demonstrated good reach and uptake, including among workers not currently captured by mental health services, and clear effectiveness for treating PTSD. Such a service shows promise for the sector to remain proactively prepared for times of crisis when there is an increased need for mental health support among frontline emergency workers.
Presentation Key Learnings:
1. There is a clear need and appetite for a national-level, multi-component mental health service for emergency workers, with a high volume of users of the National Emergency Worker Support Service (NEWSS).
2. 41% of those completing an online mental health check presented with likely PTSD, and 41% of completers were not already captured within mental health services.
3. Offering free clinical services for PTSD with telehealth options is a viable method of reaching at-need workers across the country, with two thirds of those completing treatment for PTSD fully recovering.
Biography
Andrew Arena received his PhD in psychology at the University of Sydney in 2020, focusing on how people can cope more or less positively with stressful life circumstances. Andrew is now a postdoctoral researcher in the Workplace Mental Health team at the Black Dog Institute. He is investigating how to promote greater wellbeing and prevent poor mental health for vulnerable workplace populations including first responders. This includes work to tailor digital mental health interventions to the specific needs of these groups.
