“Stronger Together: A Global Exploration of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Challenges Confronting First Responders, and Pathways to Improvement”

Call for Papers – Special Issue: “Stronger Together: A Global Exploration of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Challenges Confronting First Responders, and Pathways to Improvement”

Journal: International Journal of Emergency Services
Publisher: Emerald Publishing
Submission window: 1 May 2026 – 1 October 2026

This special issue focuses on mental health, wellbeing, and resilience in first responders worldwide, including police, ambulance, firefighters, paramedics, and other emergency‑services personnel. It seeks research that moves beyond describing trauma and mental‑health risks to evaluating and designing practical interventions, organisational reforms, and policy‑level responses that strengthen individual and organisational resilience.

Why this issue matters

• First responders are routinely exposed to traumatic, emotionally demanding, and dangerous situations as part of their core work, which is embedded into their professional roles rather than an occasional occurrence.

• Despite this, many organisations lack adequate structural support, mental‑health resources, and preventive systems, leading to high rates of burnout, psychological distress, and disillusionment.

• Persistent wellbeing challenges threaten organisational sustainability, staffing stability, and ultimately the safety and resilience of the communities first responders serve.

This SI aims to bridge psychological research, emergency‑management practice, and policy development to foster healthier emergency‑services cultures and more effective support systems.

Core themes and research topics

The special issue welcomes interdisciplinary, international, and mixed‑method studies on mental‑health and wellbeing in first‑responder settings. Suggested topics include:

• Workplace culture and organisational support

  • How leadership styles, communication practices, and organisational culture shape or undermine mental‑health disclosure and support‑seeking.

• Resilience and protective factors

  • Individual and organisational factors that buffer stress, promote recovery, and sustain long‑term psychological wellbeing.

• Interventions and mental‑health programs

  • Evaluation of peer‑support programs, resilience‑training, counselling services, and digital‑support tools tailored to first‑responder contexts.

• Confronting stigma around mental health

  • Studies on how stigma, “tough‑cop” culture, and fear of career consequences deter help‑seeking and ways to systematically reduce stigma.

• Policy and system‑level responses

  • Analysis of national and organisational policies on duty‑of‑care, workload management, trauma‑leave, and long‑term mental‑health care.

• Moral injury and post‑traumatic stress

  • Research on moral injury, PTSD, complex trauma, and related conditions among first responders, and effective treatment or prevention strategies.

• Work intensity and its impact on wellbeing

  • How long shifts, high‑demand rosters, and resource‑pressures interact with psychological health and what organisational changes can mitigate harm.

Guest editors

• Prof. Fleur Sharafizad, Edith Cowan University, Australia

• Dr. Aglae Hernandez Grande, Edith Cowan University, Australia

• Prof. Yvonne Brunetto, Southern Cross University, Australia

• Prof. Ben Farr‑Wharton, Edith Cowan University, Australia

Submission details

• Submission platform: ScholarOne Manuscripts for International Journal of Emergency Services:
  https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijes

• When submitting, select the special issue title “Stronger Together: A Global Exploration of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Challenges Confronting First Responders, and Pathways to Improvement”.

• Submission window: 1 May 2026 – 1 October 2026

• Manuscripts must be original and not under consideration elsewhere, and must follow the journal’s Author Guidelines.

This special issue is ideal for health‑psychology, organisational‑behaviour, public‑administration, and emergency‑management researchers who wish to contribute evidence‑based solutions for improving mental‑health and wellbeing among first responders globally.

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