Developments in UK police wellbeing: A review of blue light wellbeing frameworks

Abstract

Policing demands are widely acknowledged to negatively impact on the physical and mental health of police officers and staff. Research has documented the need for greater insight into the stressors and trauma that impact police officers, with a current national drive towards enhancing the police wellbeing agenda: namely, Oscar Kilo and the National Wellbeing Service. To understand the current wellbeing strategies in place, 34 Blue Light Wellbeing Frameworks were analysed. A mixed methods approach was adopted: quantitative data was descriptively examined, with thematic analyses employed to explore the qualitative data. Findings from the review highlight developments in police wellbeing, as well as areas for future development.

Trauma and Percieved Internal Support of Police Officers in Kenya

“…In order to address these questions there is need to address the problem of management apathy and resistance towards establishing mediators to prevent and mitigate not just trauma but the whole spectrum of police work related psychological wellbeing. According to Phythian, Birdsall, Kirby, Cooper, & Boulton (2022) trauma support should be delivered and in a holistic manner so that there is alignment between the physical and psychological (body mind and the soul) needs of the officers. There should also be personal and collective responsibility of maintaining health for example by exercising and other self-care activities that promote health.…”

Compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and burnout, and their associations with anxiety and depression in UK police officers: A mixed method analysis

“…This research will assist organisational decision-making regarding focussing interventions on treating CF as opposed to merely increasing CS in police officers. It is evident organisations are making efforts to improve officers’ wellbeing through programmes such as the ‘Blue Light Wellbeing Framework’, which has elements of increasing CS (Phythian et al, 2022). The present study suggests boosting CS by attempting to improve resilience and educating officers on CF alone is not sufficient to alleviate its symptoms.…”

“…Mental illness in the workplace is a significant ‘economic burden’; it is estimated 16 million days are lost annually due to stress, anxiety, and depression (Office of National Statistics, 2020). Highly stressful occupations, such as police work, can negatively impact physical and mental health (Phythian et al, 2022). A study of 534 UK police officers revealed that 12% disclosed a mental health diagnosis and 26% suffered with mental illness (Jetelina et al, 2020).…”

“…Since 2017, Oscar Kilo (OK), The Blue Light Wellbeing Framework (BLWF), and The National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS) have been launched in the UK, demonstrating a national effort to promote wellbeing in police officers (College of policing, 2018). However, it has been observed that the delivery of such frameworks can be inconsistent and it is unclear which programmes have undergone external evaluation, thus having little empirical support (Phythian et al, 2022).…”