By Police1 Staff
In the past 15 years, health organizations such as Veterans Affairs (VA) have started to study moral injury — impairing symptoms of guilt, shame and spiritual struggle (among others) — that can result from experiencing an event that violates one’s deeply held moral values. Most of the current moral injury research has been conducted on military veterans through the VA. However, there has been increased recognition that first responders are also exposed to events that can result in moral injury.
To date, research on these groups is very limited. Increasing our understanding of moral injury in first responders is important, as it will help contribute to the development of effective prevention and intervention efforts.
This study is being conducted by Dr. Michelle Lilly and Mr. Peter Tappenden. Dr. Lilly is a professor at Northern Illinois University who has conducted both research and clinical work with first responders over the past 15 years. She has previously published articles for Police1 and is considered a subject matter expert in first responder psychological health and intervention. Peter Tappenden is a PhD student on Dr. Lilly’s team and has published a peer reviewed journal article on moral injury in public safety. They are hoping to recruit active-duty law enforcement officers to participate in this 15-minute survey. Other first responders, including 9-1-1 telecommunicators, fire services and EMS, are also invited to participate.
Five study participants will be randomly selected to win a $100 gift card.
Responses are confidential and accessible only by the research team. The survey will close on June 30th and can be found here: https://niu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_784YLHxyKpDQjMG
Dr. Lilly can be contacted with questions regarding the study at mlilly1@niu.edu.