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Responder Assist: A specialized mental health service for emergency services workers

Tracks
Monarch Room - In Person Only
Tuesday, March 3, 2026
2:05 PM - 2:35 PM
Monarch Room

Overview

Associate Professor Tracey Varker, Phoenix Australia, University Of Melbourne


Details

Three Key Learnings:
Tailored mental health services for emergency services workers are necessary and effective. Co-production and lived experience integration enhance service design. Comprehensive support structures are essential for service effectiveness, with ongoing research and quality improvement activities enabling continual refinements and improvements.


Speaker

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Associate Professor Tracey Varker
Director of Research
Phoenix Australia, University Of Melbourne

Responder Assist: A specialized mental health service for emergency services workers

Presentation Overview

Emergency services workers face elevated risks of developing mental health conditions, in part due to frequent exposure to potentially traumatic events and also because of the other organisational stressors they have to contend with. However, access to appropriate care is often limited by systemic, cultural, and logistical barriers. Dedicated mental health services tailored to this workforce remain scarce. This presentation will describe Responder Assist, a Victorian government funded mental health service tailored to the unique needs of emergency services workers. Grounded in research evidence and enriched by lived experience, co-production, and co-design, the model integrates purpose-designed service features intended to enhance access to care for current and former emergency services workers. The service also incorporates both internal and external communities of practice, and embedded research and quality improvement processes to support the ongoing evaluation and refinement of the model. Preliminary outcome data from 95 emergency services workers who accessed the service will be presented. The data suggests promising reductions in symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, psychological distress, depression, and anxiety.

Biography

Associate Professor Tracey Varker is a Director of Research at Phoenix Australia – Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, and an Associate Professor with the Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne. She leads a program of work focused on improving mental health outcomes for those who are at high-risk of encountering trauma or stress through their occupation. A/Prof Varker leads the Research function of Responder Assist, a Victorian support service for emergency services workers. She has published 70 research articles in posttraumatic mental health, and more than 70 reports for government and industry.
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