Utility of Personalized Mental Health Reports in Connecting Paramedics with Mental Disorder Symptoms to Trauma-Informed Care

Paramedics and other public safety personnel experience a high prevalence of mental health conditions, yet stigma and access barriers often limit engagement with professional care. As part of a post-pandemic mental health study, we evaluated the feasibility and utility of providing voluntary, personalized mental health feedback reports to paramedics in two Ontario services. During compulsory continuing medical education sessions in the fall of 2024, 995 paramedics (96% of eligible) completed a survey with screening tools for various mental disorders. Participants could choose to receive a confidential report summarizing their screening results. Overall, 58% opted to receive a report, of whom 38% completed a follow-up survey approximately two months later. Participants who screened positive for posttraumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder were significantly more likely to report contacting a mental health professional than those screening negative (27% vs. 7.8%; Odds Ratio 4.35, p<0.001), corresponding to an estimated pseudo-number needed to treat of five. Qualitative comments indicated that feedback reports increased awareness, validated symptoms, and, in some cases, prompted help-seeking or behavior change. These findings suggest that voluntary, low-burden mental health check-ins are a feasible strategy to identify at-risk paramedics and facilitate connection to care.