Background - The Wholebeing health project was established in June 2022 as an early intervention support mechanism for emergency service personnel (ESP) who have been diagnosed with a primary psychological injury (PSI). Guardian Exercise Rehabilitation and Verde Nutrition Co collaborated to provide integrated care to support emergency service personnel.

Aim – Promote a durable and sustainable return to health for ESP experiencing a PSI.

Approach – From June 2022 to January 2024, we offered the dual-service project to ESP. The average duration of each exercise physiology and dietitian interventions was 12 sessions over 18 weeks and 6 sessions over 12 weeks, respectively. Tools used to measure program effectiveness included the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale – 21 items (DASS-21), Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS) Questionnaire, and Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS-10).

Outcome: DASS-21, MDS and PROMIS-10 results all showed improvements for ESP at completion of the project. Workers who engaged in the dual treatment increased their work hours at completion of the program, with some workers completing the program with a final medical certificate of capacity.

Implications for practice: A dual early exercise and nutrition intervention is an effective strategy to promote a durable and sustainable return to health for ESP experiencing a PSI. Providing dietitian services and some exercise physiology services via telehealth is an innovative way to allow quality service to be provided regardless of remote location.

Three Key Learnings:

1. Dual exercise physiology and dietitian services is an effective way of improving health.
2. Telehealth is an appropriate tool to provide both services, regardless of location.
3. DASS-21, MDS and PROMIS-10 are useful tools to assess efficacy of this program.