OU Research impacts Royal decision to support mental health of emergency responders

In positive news that shows the clear impact of OU research on decision making, The Royal Foundation has announced the award of significant grants to mental health charities. The move signals a continuing commitment to support the mental health and wellbeing of emergency responders; always a priority but especially pertinent as we continue to see evidence of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on a report by academics from the OU’s Centre for Policing and Research collaborating with researchers from King’s College, London, the Royal Foundation has made grants of £1.8 million to ten charities working to provide mental health support.   

Principal Investigator, Dr Gini Harrison of the School of Psychology and Counselling said: “It is fantastic that our combined research has been instrumental in informing this extremely worthwhile action by the Royal Foundation. Our research highlighted the significant wellbeing challenges emergency responders face, which are likely to have been exacerbated during the pandemic.”

Read more about the report in this OU News story.