Total Worker Health® Needs Assessment to Identify Workplace Mental Health Interventions in Rural and Urban Jails

Abstract

Importance: Jail officers are an underserved population of public safety workers at high risk for developing chronic mental health conditions. Objective: In response to national calls for the examination of stressors related to the unique work contexts of correctional facilities, we implemented a pilot study informed by the Total Worker Health® (TWH) strategy at two urban and two rural jails. Design: Participatory teams guided areas of interest for a mixed-data needs assessment, including surveys with 320 jail officers to inform focus groups (N = 40). Setting: Urban and rural jails in the midwestern United States. Participants: Jail correctional officers and sheriff’s deputies employed at participating jails. Measures: We measured mental health characteristics using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Global Mental Health scale, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale, and the two-item Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist. Constructs to identify workplace characteristics included emotional support, work–family conflict, dangerousness, health climate, organizational operations, effectiveness of training, quality of supervision, and organizational fairness. Results: On the basis of general population estimates, we found that jail officers were at higher risk for mental health disorders, including depression and posttraumatic stress disorder. Jail officers identified workplace health interventions to address individual-, interpersonal-, institutional-, and community-level needs. Conclusion: Implementation of a TWH needs assessment in urban and rural jails to identify evidence-informed, multilevel interventions was found to be feasible. Using this assessment, we identified specific workplace health protection and promotion solutions. What This Article Adds: Results from this study support the profession’s vision to influence policies, environments, and systems through collaborative work. This TWH study has implications for practice and research by addressing mental health needs among jail officers and by providing practical applications to create evidence-informed, tailored interventions to promote workplace health in rural and urban jails.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Job Burnout Among Jail Officers

“…This study is a portion of a larger, Total Worker Health ® participatory health and safety needs assessment of Midwest U.S. rural and urban jails. 7 Ethical approval was obtained prior to data collection and informed consent was obtained from each participant. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Saint Louis University.…”

“…These included stress management education and resources; control tactics and conflict resolution training; and implementation of long-term, systematic inservices. 7 Utilization of trauma-informed care (TIC) may better address trauma stressors as compared to trauma debriefing interventions that have not shown efficacy. 24,25 Primary care and occupational health screening for PTSD using a brief 2-item measure such as the PCL-2 may provide quick insight to inform trauma health interventions.…”

Stressed Out: Predictors of Depression Among Jail Officers and Deputies

“…Through the Saint Louis University Transformative Justice Initiative and Health Criminology Research Consortium, we seek to develop evidence-informed improvements to health protection and health promotion in justice systems. This study is a portion of a larger Total Worker Health ® participatory health and safety needs assessment of Midwest U.S. rural and urban jails (Jaegers et al, in press). Ethical approval was obtained prior to data collection and informed consent was obtained from each participant.…”

Progress in Corrections Worker Health: The National Corrections Collaborative Utilizing a Total Worker Health® Strategy

“…Participatory needs assessment and identification of interventions using the TWH approach have proven to be feasible in prison and jail settings. 41,45,46 Challenges exist with the implementation of holistic and multidimensional interventions due in large part to the environmental, organizational, and cultural barriers that exist in correctional and law enforcement work. Traditionally corrections workforce health interventions focus on unidimensional outcomes, such as substance abuse interventions, and are consequently limited in their ability to significantly impact well-being because they address single issues, thus excluding over changes in culture or behavior.…”

“…42 Participatory teams at Midwestern, small (rural), and medium sized (urban) jails developed workplace health and safety interventions from officer informed surveys (N = 401) and focus groups. 46 The mixed methods data from participating jails provided context to the experiences of COs and how to form multi-level, tailored interventions for communication skills, mental health training, workplace culture, and facility and city/county policies. In the Eastern region, the HITEC 2 study used participatory action research to implement interventions with four prison facility design teams.…”