Mental Health Neuroforce Kickoff Symposium

Terça-feira , 29 de Março 2022 - 09:30

Universidade Católica

Rua Diogo Botelho, 1327

4169-005 PORTO

Portugal

Understanding how neuroscience can help to promote police officers’ mental health in the International and Portuguese contexts

What is the Mental Health NeuroForce Project?
This project focuses on furthering the knowledge of mental health in police forces through the lens of Neurosciences, and it is being implemented in the Human Neurobehavioral Laboratory.

Who is supporting this project?
Our team of partners and consultants is composed of a group of national and international academic and health professionals interested in understanding what affects mental health and intervening in this population using Neuroscience techniques.

What is expected from this project?
We hope this fruitful cooperation among professionals from four different countries (Portugal, Spain, England, and the USA) lead us to develop and validate an innovative intervention program focusing on stress resilience facing emotionally challenging situations.

What are our expectations for this kickoff symposium?
We expect this kickoff symposium for the Mental Health NeuroForce will allow us to discuss possibilities outputs, task distribution, risks, and needs and give vital tips. In addition, this symposium presents an excellent opportunity to join an interdisciplinary team of researchers working across Psychology, Neuroscience, and other related areas.

Namely, we expect to:

Disseminate the project and its goals
Discuss the potential contribution from a Neuroscience approach
Raise awareness to mental health-related issues, stress and burnout in the police officers
Foster networking among professionals from different scientific fields
Strengthen the relationship of the international team involved in this project

Who is invited to participate?

Team, partners, and consultants involved in the Mental Health Neuroforce project;
College faculties interested in neurosciences applied to police forces’ mental health.

This is a FREE event, but we need attendees to register in advance.

What is the plan?

Mental Health Force Symposium Program

Police Officers’ Mental Health in the
PORTUGUESE arena

09h30 - 10h00

Committee Introduction

Institutional Welcoming

Raquel Matos, Ph.D.

Dean of the Faculty of Education and Psychology - Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP), Porto - Portugal

Mental Health NeuroForce Project Brief Presentation

Ana Moreno, MSc. & Patrícia Oliveira-Silva, Ph.D.

Human Neurobehavioral Laboratory (CEDH/FEP/UCP – Porto)

10h00 - 11h00

Mental Health NeuroForce - Master Studies’ Round Table

Moderator:
Diana Pereira, Ph.D.

Invited Post-Doc Researcher in the Human Neurobehavioral Laboratory (CEDH/FEP/UCP – Porto)

UCP Master Students:
Ana Carolina Teixeira

Master Student in the Human Neurobehavioral Laboratory (CEDH/FEP/UCP – Porto)

Communication Title: The relationship between empathy and burnout in Portuguese police forces & the moderating role of emotional regulation

Bárbara Jacinto

Master Student in the Human Neurobehavioral Laboratory (CEDH/FEP/UCP – Porto)

Communication Title: Physiological stress in police officers and the role of emotional regulation

Maria Belén Llamedo

Master Student in the Human Neurobehavioral Laboratory (CEDH/FEP/UCP – Porto)

Communication Title: Stress vulnerability and coping strategies in police officers

Sofia Machado

Master Student in the Human Neurobehavioral Laboratory (CEDH/FEP/UCP – Porto)

Communication Title: The stigmatization of mental health problems in the Portuguese police context

11h00 - 11h15

Coffee Break

11h15 - 12h30

Visiting Speaker:
Matilde Fernandes

Matilde Fernandes, from the Psychology Division – Portuguese National Police

Communication Title: Uma Polícia integral, humana, forte, coesa e ao serviço do Cidadão - Estratégia PSP 20/22

12h30 - 14h00

Lunch Break

Police Officers’ Mental Health in the
INTERNATIONAL arena

14h00 - 17h00

Mental Health NeuroForce – International Team

Moderator:
Ted Scharf, Ph.D.

Ted Scharf - Research Psychologist, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, (NIOSH) 1992- present, Division of Science Integration, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Email: tscharf@cdc.gov; 513-533-8170 (office); 513-226-9650 (mobile)
BA: Psychology and political analysis, Antioch College, 1977, Yellow Springs, Ohio, USA.
MA: Psychology, Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science, New School for Social Research, 1982, New York, NY, USA.
Ph.D.: School of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine, 1995, USA. Emphasis: environmental and community psychology, quasi-experimental research methods, and program evaluation.
Research interests: Workload, stress, and risks for injury in hazardous work environments. Quasi-experimental research methodology. Program evaluation methodology. Participatory action research. Safety culture / climate and safety management systems. Hazard recognition and interactive safety training for workers in hazardous work environments.
Current project: Responder organizations & COVID-19: Coping with trauma & promoting resilience: A survey of all NIOSH staff, including fellows and contractors.

Speakers:
Dori Reissman, M.D., M.P.H.

Dori B. Reissman, MD, MPH is the Associate Administrator for the World Trade Center Health Program at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and a Rear Admiral (retired) in the US Public Health Service. Dr. Reissman oversees all administrative and clinical services provided to the >115,000 enrolled program members harmed by 9/11 terror attacks in the U.S. on September 11, 2001. She oversees the 8 contracted Clinical Centers of Excellence, a Nationwide Provider Network, a third-party administrator for claims processing, and a pharmacy benefit manager. Additionally, Dr. Reissman coordinates a myriad of scientific activities supporting a “research-to-care” philosophical paradigm and a robust extramural research portfolio. For over 20 years, Dr. Reissman was a Commissioned Medical Officer in the US Public Health Service. She has deployed for many disasters and worked to integrate workforce resilience strategies within incident command structures at CDC. Dr. Reissman is a physician trained in psychiatry, occupational medicine and toxicology.

Communication Title: The World Trade Center Health Program: Recovery from the Terror Attacks in the U.S. on September 11, 2001.
The World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program is a complex federal health care entitlement program for eligible responders and survivors of the September 11, 2001 (9/11) terror attacks in the U.S. The Program provides high quality health care services for eligible members with qualifying medical and mental health conditions. The program also conducts a cohort-specific medical monitoring exam for qualified members, providers cancer screening, health education, and social benefits counseling for its membership. The Program has a robust extramural research portfolio and an exposure registry. The topics of research include epidemiological studies assessing the linkage between certain health conditions and toxic (including psychologically hazardous) exposures from the 9/11 attacks, mechanisms of WTC-related diseases/disorders, and studies to help improve upon the diagnostic and treatment uncertainties associated with these WTC-related diseases/disorders. The Program uses a “research-to-care” translational paradigm to guide the program’s research portfolio and health surveillance activities.

Robert Werner-de-Sondberg, Ph.D.

C. Robert M. Werner-de-Sundberg. PhD, DOccPsych is a lecturer in forensic psychology at Coventry University (UK). A former police officer, he enjoyed a varied career (in & out of uniform), retiring in March 2006 (with various specialisms including: fraud; training; child protection; & local policing). He also spent time with a firm of clinical and forensic psychologists helping to write court psychological reports for child and family proceedings. A chartered/ registered Occupational Psychologist, he worked as a health and well-being consultant internally for Birmingham City Council and externally for an adult social care provider. It is this occupational focus that underpins everything he does forensically.

Communication Title: UK police custody as a critical occupation in need of a stress shield model intervention
The presentation will identify UK police custody as a critical occupation. It will briefly elaborate multilevel research conducted between Autumn 2015 and Spring 2017, focused on five police custody roles (public & private), located across seven central England police services; an approach that employed the Integrated multilevel model of organizational culture and climate (developed by the speaker), as the basis for a multi-strategy design (i.e. quantitative, including use of multilevel mediation and moderation; qualitative, including inductive and deductive thematic analysis; and both single and multiple case studies). Key findings will be used to evidence the need for a training intervention that will be evaluated using the stress shield model of police resiliency (as adapted), currently supported by the two largest police services involved in the original study, i.e., numbering 300-400+ public sector police custody staff; a project, unfortunately delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

John Violanti, Ph.D.

John M. Violanti, Ph.D. is a Full Research Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, N.Y. He is a police veteran, serving with the New York State Police for 23 years as a trooper, criminal investigator, and later as a coordinator for the State Police Psychological Assistance Program (EAP). Dr. Violanti has authored over 150 peer-reviewed articles on shift work, stress, and PTSD. He has also written and edited twenty books on topics of stress, trauma and suicide.

Communication Title: Disruptive societal correlates of police mental health: A pandemic, civil unrest, and riots
In the public service arena law enforcement faced formidable challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and civil unrest in the U.S. A recent survey indicated that 35% of U.S. police departments had suspended their police academies, 12% had increased overtime hours, and approximately 30% had to furlough staff due to COVID-19. Law enforcement officers interact with the public every day, increasing their risk of exposure as well as that of their family. During most of the pandemic officers were expected to coordinate local shutdowns, encourage physical distancing, and enforce stay-at-home laws, challenges compounded by understaffing and underfunding. Operational issues during this time period included reduced staff, insufficient safety measures and equipment to deal with COVID-19 and poor organizational support. Similar to other first responders, officers have close contact with people in public settings and during arrest situations. As a result, they were at increased risk of becoming infected. COVID-19 was responsible for 62% of all police on-duty deaths in 2020.

Added to the stress of a pandemic was an outbreak of civil unrest. Protests and riots in the U.S. had to do with certain inflammatory police arrest incidents and political unrest. The U.S. Capitol insurrection by protestors and rioters on January 6, 2021 left the police in the middle of turmoil between politics and duty. A large group of protestors stormed the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC. During the siege, police were understaffed, underprepared and overwhelmed by the attack. Negative public perceptions and lack of support, placed Capital and Washington, DC police in a position where they could no longer do their jobs effectively and placed them under extreme stress. The event turned out to be a major traumatic event for police, with future repercussions for PTSD and anxiety. There were several suicides among the police. Over an estimated 130 officers have left the Capitol force since the riot.

We conducted a pilot study to assess PTSD during the pandemic and civil unrest in a random sample of police agencies across the United States. Symptoms included re-experiencing trauma, avoidance, negative cognitions and mood, and physiological arousal often manifested by aggressiveness, sleep problems, recklessness, or self-destructive behavior (DSM-5, American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Police officers were at increased risk for PTSD due to exposure to traumatic situations such as shootings, riots, accidents, assaults, and witnessing death during this time. Results will be discussed in the presentation.

17h00 - 17h15

Closing Ceremony & Final Remarks

Patrícia Oliveira-Silva, Ph.D.

Human Neurobehavioral Laboratory (CEDH/FEP/UCP – Porto)

Maria Karanika-Murray, Ph.D.

Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham - UK

Susana Rubiol Vilalta, Ph.D.

Blanquerna – Universitat Ramon Llull, Barcelona – Spain

For more details about the event: Patrícia Oliveira-Silva (HNL Director) - posilva@ucp.pt