Faculty Advisor(s)
Kathleen Hughes-Butcher
Abstract
First responders experience consistent exposure to traumatic events in their day-to-day profession, placing them at increased risk for mental health challenges, including stress, burnout, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The First Responder’s Best Friends doctoral capstone quality improvement project aimed to increase mental health and well-being in first responders as well as to bring awareness to the importance of mental health and the impact of trauma. The capstone project consisted of three different areas of focus: program development and implementation, advocacy, and clinical practice skills. Program development and implementation was a 12-week mental health program at the Kingston Fire Department, with weekly program sessions to educate on positive coping strategies and mechanisms, with the incorporation of therapy dogs. Advocacy included presentations at local first responder meetings on mental health and occupational therapy’s role when working with first responders. Clinical practice skills involved working alongside a licensed trauma therapist to gain a deeper understanding of trauma and those experiencing trauma, while developing resources for first responders to utilize. To guide the doctoral capstone project, a scoping review was conducted to examine effective interventions for addressing the mental health, well-being, and psychosocial needs of first responders. The outcomes demonstrated positive engagement and receptiveness from participants, increased discussions regarding mental health, and an increased awareness of coping strategies that can be utilized in their future work. The capstone project highlights the unique role of occupational therapy with first responders and the ability to integrate a preventive mental health program into community-based populations.
Publication Date
2026
Document Type
Poster
Department
Occupational Therapy
Keywords
first responders, mental health, well-being, animal-assisted therapy, occupational therapy
Disciplines
Animal-Assisted Therapy | Medicine and Health Sciences | Mental and Social Health | Occupational Therapy | Rehabilitation and Therapy
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Postiglione, Jordan, "First Responders' Best Friends: A Mental Health and Trauma-Informed Care Program for First Responders" (2026). Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone Projects Class of 2026. 7.
https://digitalcommons.misericordia.edu/otd_capstone2026/7