Police officer recognized for mental health work
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/11/2021 (1754 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A Brandon police officer has received a first-of-its-kind award for her work supporting the mental health of first responders.
Const. Amanda Conway received the Mental Health Service in Policing Award at the Manitoba Chiefs of Police event on Nov. 18.
Conway co-founded Project Resilience 911, which focuses on the mental health of police and other first responders.
“It feels nice to be acknowledged for the work I’ve done and the contributions I’ve made to mental health in policing and first responders,” she said.
“I saw a change that needed to happen … There’s still a lot of stigma around mental health in the first responder field.”
The goal is to extinguish stigma by promoting mental health services and education so that first responders can acknowledge when they need help, she said. Conway came into policing with a background in social work, which instilled in her a passion for mental health work with first responders.
“We need to make that the norm and also work at using training and education and awareness to build resilience when it comes to mental health so we can have a long, healthy career and enjoy our retirement.”
The award was sponsored by HealthIM, an app BPS uses to help evaluate peoples’ mental health needs when responding to service calls.
Project Resilience 911 was born out of BPS’ wellness team approximately two years ago. Conway approached Cpl. Annalisa Dey-Thomas, who was the wellness officer for the RCMP in D Division at the time, to get it off the ground.
Other first-responder agencies around the province are also part of it, including Brandon Fire and Emergency Services, RCMP D Division, Brandon Correctional Centre guards and the Rivers Police Service.
The group works as a peer-support network and is an outside source; representatives can take ideas back to their own agencies. Conway said she is grateful for the support from the BPS executive team.
The group held a 21-kilometre long biking and running fundraiser in September and a wellness fair in October. Conway said she is planning similar events and fundraisers in 2022.
“I think we’re in a time dynamic where we have a lot of younger people coming into the profession and they’re used to the mental health realm, it’s more acceptable now, it’s more taught in school, and they’re just more open to the ideas.
“We’re working towards a good spot here. We do have up-and-coming people into these professions that are aware of mental health and how to be resilient.”
» dmay@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @DrewMay_