Health, recovery and uniformed public services' primary care

This workstream develops the experience, collective skills and expertise of two research institutes and two research centres at ARU that specialise in uniformed public services, as well as colleagues from the MOD’s Academic Department of Military General Practice (ADMGP), with a specific focus on uniformed public service workers' relationship with primary health care.

A paramedic posed for the camera in front of the open back doors of an ambulance, where another paramedic can be seen

The four ARU research groups brought together by this theme are the International Policing and Public Protection Research Institute (IPPPRI), Veterans & Families Institute for Military Social Research (VFI), Centre for Excellence for Equity in Uniformed Public Services (CEEUPS), and Centre for Military Women's Research (CMWR).

There is growing evidence from both the UK and abroad that highlights the disparity in health and wellbeing outcomes between the general population and those who serve in the uniformed public services such as police, fire, ambulance, paramedics, military, and prison services.

These include poorer physical health outcomes, such as musculoskeletal and stress-related physical injuries, and mental health outcomes, especially those related to repeated exposure to challenging and traumatic events, such as depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol misuse, gambling disorders and PTSD. Some North American research has also shown that those retiring from high-stress occupations have a considerably reduced life expectancy.

Whilst studies have highlighted the health burden placed upon those from these specific occupations, very little is known about how their health is managed by primary care. This theme will therefore explore these complex relationships, with the aims of improving healthcare outcomes and developing more effective ways of reducing what appears to be a disparity with the wider general population.

These outcomes are inextricably linked to performance within the range of occupational groups who work in the uniformed public services sector. Consequently, this research will be undertaken in close collaboration with employers, with the intention that the findings will help to enhance and develop new ways of working and introduce preventative measures to improve health and wellbeing outcomes.

Poor health outcomes have an impact beyond the individual. Within this work we will also be using an ecological framework to consider the impact on families, carers, communities and the wider society.

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