Table 3 Summary of recommendations pertaining to correctional personnel, mapped to the SEM

Individual

 Develop and promote healthy lifestyle habits and coping among staff, e.g., cognitive strategies (reframing, acceptance, problem-solving), alternatives to substance/alcohol use, exercise and physical activity

8

Interpersonal

 Offer mentorship and/or clinical supervision opportunities, i.e., spaces to discuss emotions, workplace incidents, learnings and insights

10

 Encourage positive interactions between correctional officers and offenders; improve prisoner quality of life to support positive relationships and avoid escalating tensions

8

 Provide peer support, e.g., lunchtime drop-in sessions; consider standardizing and/or formalizing peer support programs

7

 Support, recognize, and celebrate staff, e.g., host on-site celebrations and opportunities to socialize, hold employee recognition events, etc.

6

 Provide a designated religious and spiritual care provider

1

 Improve communication and connectedness with the surrounding community

1

Institutional

 Offer workplace mental health training on topics such as resilience, preparedness, and mental health first aid; consider adopting standardized, evaluated training programs, e.g., AMStrength, Road to Mental Readiness (R2MR), Before Occupational Stress

30

 Increase access to mental health resources, services, programs, and interventions by adopting dedicated on-site mental healthcare services for employees (e.g., appoint a designated on-site psychologist)

14

 Prevent, address, and reduce post-traumatic stress injuries: provide training on workplace exposure to traumatic stress; offer and standardize crisis and trauma support interventions, e.g., trauma-informed psychological services, critical incident stress management programs

13

 Improve manager-to-employee communication

10

 Improve hiring practices, e.g., explore resilience screening at time of hiring/enrollment (and address associated ethical and privacy concerns)

9

 Offer evidence-based psychological interventions to prevent and address post-traumatic stress injuries and other mental health concerns, including virtual/e-therapies (e.g., iCBT)

5

 Offer designed employee breakrooms separate from the working space

5

 Destigmatize mental health and help-seeking

5

 Ensure visibility and presence of leadership

5

 Address understaffing in the workplace: ensure proper budget allocation for hiring, staffing, backfilling roles when staff are on leave, etc.

5

 Audit and improve physical environment of prisons (i.e., overcrowding, poor sanitation, dim lighting, lack of fresh air)

4

 Offer anti-bullying and anti-harassment training programs; create strong anti-harassment policies; adopt a safe and formal way to report grievances

4

 Adopt flexible work schedules to encourage work-life balance; ensure scheduling is transparent and fair

2

 Provide and expand access to trauma-informed EAP services

2

 Implement confidential, evidence-based psychological assessments of staff mental health

2

 Facilitate return-to-work programs following occupational stress injuries

2

 Address hyper-masculinity in the workplace; develop tools and strategies to encourage men to be proactive in maintaining a respectful work culture

2

 Provide workplace supports for members of the 2SLGBTQIA + community

1

 Offer equity and diversity training

1

 Appoint an equity and diversity officer

1

 Increase pay and benefits

1

Policy

 Ensure presumptive coverage for occupational and traumatic stress through policy and legislative levers

2

 Establish a hub for research excellence and knowledge translation to provide national leadership on the mental health of public safety personnel, including correctional officers; invest in effective knowledge mobilization

1

 Form a federal advisory council on occupational stress injuries for public safety personnel, including correctional officers

1

 Adopt a national mental health strategy for correctional officers and other public safety personnel

1

 Address the needs of small, rural, isolated, and/or First Nations communities

1