According to Rutgers Health researchers, training prison officers in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) for Adults, a 7.5-hour national training program from the National Council on Mental Wellness, can help equip them with the skills necessary to effectively identify signs and symptoms of mental distress and advocate for incarcerated individuals experiencing mental health crises.
Led by Pamela Valera, assistant professor in the Department of Urban-Global Public Health at the Rutgers School of Public Health, the researchers collaborated with the National Council on Mental Well-Being to develop the pilot study, published in Psychological Servicesto assess officers’ mental health knowledge and behaviors before and after distance education.
Correctional officers serve as first responders, working around the clock in three shifts. They are often the first point of contact for people dealing with mental health, psychosis and substance misuse issues within criminal justice settings. Despite this critical role, prison officers typically receive little mental health training.”
Pamela Valera, Assistant Professor, Department of Urban-Global Public Health, Rutgers School of Public Health
According to the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), it is estimated that more than half of people who are incarcerated have a mental health disorder. Therefore, the need to train prison officers in mental health is evident. While crisis intervention teams — originally designed for police officers to manage mental health crises in the community — have been adapted for prison settings, researchers said evidence of their effectiveness remains limited and yields mixed results.
MHFA training, however, is supported by evidence-based interventions and has demonstrated success in enhancing trainees’ mental health literacy and their ability to identify, understand and respond to mental health crises.
“This study is the first of its kind to apply Mental Health First Aid to a prison setting,” Valera said. “However, Mental Health First Aid should be tailored specifically for prison professionals to equip them with the ability to identify signs and symptoms of mental health challenges among those incarcerated in either a prison, jail or detention facility in order to make appropriate referrals persons in direct justice-related services.”
Using a mixed-methods approach, researchers recruited 30 correctional officers working at a maximum-security state prison in the Northeast for an MHFA intervention study. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the training was conducted remotely via Zoom.
Of these participants, 27 completed the study which included pre- and post-surveys along with a follow-up assessment – ​​and nine prison officers participated in a focus group session.
Pre- and post-test findings suggest that MHFA training improved participants’ ability to distinguish between mental health, substance use and behavioral challenges, the researchers said. They highlighted the positive effect of MHFA training on correctional officers’ attitudes toward referring inmates to mental health professionals.
At 12 weeks post-intervention, participants self-reported referrals to incarcerated individuals showing signs of mental distress. However, there is a need to strengthen the mental health referral process for incarcerated individuals when correctional officers provide MHFA, according to the researchers.
Reflecting on their experience with MHFA distance education, one correctional officer noted, “We should be getting a lot more mental health training. We really need it because our current training doesn’t cover that aspect. I think everyone should have access to it the lesson. It allowed me to become more introspective, to identify what I was overlooking, and to address it. More guidance on communicating effectively with inmates would be beneficial.
The researchers emphasized the importance of expanding the scope of MHFA training to include diverse settings, such as county jails and detention facilities. Valera said future MHFA interventions need to improve mental well-being in correctional settings.
The study’s co-authors are researchers from the Rutgers School of Public Health, the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, and collaborators from institutions in Washington, DC
Source:
Journal Reference:
Valera, P., et al. (2024). Remote mental health first aid training for correctional officers: A pilot study. Psychological Services. doi.org/10.1037/ser0000860.
