Every day, from coast to coast to coast, Canada's first responders and other public safety personnel are working to keep Canadians safe and secure. Their work often exposes them to sights, sounds, and situations that can be overwhelming. This is why post-traumatic stress and other operational stress injuries disproportionally affect public safety personnel (PSP).
For the last 18 years, University of Regina psychology professor Dr. R. Nicholas Carleton's career has focused on understanding relationships between trauma, pain, and mental health.
Now Carleton's priority is to help Canada's PSP by developing and integrating a comprehensive system of mental health research and treatment across the country.
His research activities focus on the prevention of, and early intervention for mental health injuries among PSP. By creating and implementing innovative, technologically advanced, and potentially lifesaving mental health interventions, Carleton and his team are developing tools that could help protect and support the mental health of Canada's more than 300,000 PSP.
For this significant work, today Carleton has been named a Member of the Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.
"I am honoured and humbled to be included as a member of the Royal Society of Canada in the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists," says Carleton. "I look forward to learning from the tremendous expertise and experience of my colleagues and hope to one day earn a Fellowship with this distinguished scientific community."
Dr. Vianne Timmons, University of Regina President and Vice-Chancellor, says that Carleton is an exceptional young researcher who has made tremendous advances in the prevention, assessment, and treatment of mental health issues, particularly for PSP.
"Public safety personnel often confront death, violence, and threats to their own lives at work in service of protecting all Canadians. Dr. Carleton's research is setting national and global precedents for PSP mental health research and treatment," says Timmons.
