Developing families-forward innovations in public safety personnel organizations

Public safety personnel (PSP) experience stressors which may affect their mental health, occupational responsibilities, performance on duty, and their families. In the current article, we explore the development and implementation of family-forward initiatives within public safety organizations. In reflecting on public safety implementation leaders' experiences of developing and implementing family-forward innovations, we aim to understand the crucial constructs involved in developing and implementing effective innovations.

Fifteen public safety leaders with previous experience implementing a family-forward initiative, from four public safety sectors, participated in semi-structured interviews about their experiences with implementing family-forward initiatives to reveal the conditions under which these initiatives were conducted among different public safety contexts. We mapped the interview data onto the Consolidated Framework of Implementation Research (CFIR), and present the relevant constructs needed to be considered for future initiatives.

Participants identified four types of family-forward innovations implemented across four public safety sectors: i) community building, ii) social norming, iii) building awareness and skills, and iv) communication channels. Leadership, resources, and a climate of readiness were instrumental in the implementation of family-forward initiatives.

Knowledge of these implementation constructs can be used to improve and adapt family-forward initiatives for the future as well as for development and implementation of initiatives for other public safety sectors.