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Research and Funding
HUGS Community Research Commitment
The solutions and services offered by HUGS Community are underpinned by high quality, empirical peer-reviewed research. We are committed to further developing and supporting research that is relevant to the mental health and wellbeing of first responders, their family and friends and within the organisations they work and volunteer with. With experienced researchers within our core team, we conduct and evaluate internal projects and support external researchers to undertake and disseminate relevant research. We only support research that adheres to ethical principles and is relevant to our HUGS Community.
Our Research
Our latest research project
We're excited to partner with PHECC for this Health Research Board (HRB) Applied Partnership-funded grant project, aiming to improve paramedic mental health and wellbeing!
This work will further develop our evidence based HUGS Community research, effecting systems level change.
HUGS@Home - An initial evaluation of a psychological first aid programme for families and friends of first responders.
Comprehensive Psychiatry Volume 143, November 2025
Highlights
HUGS@Home is a novel application of PFA, specifically training family and friends
Positive growth (following traumatic stress) was significant for both groups
HUGS@Home enhanced wellbeing outcomes for both family members and friends
This study suggests PFA may also be beneficial for volunteer responders.
“This is it…this is our normal” - the voices of family members and first responders experiencing duty-related trauma in Ireland.
Comprehensive Psychiatry Volume 133, August 2024.
Highlights
Family members feel like hidden members of the first responder community.
Organizations should consider family members as allies in their supportive roles.
We facilitated a novel dialogue between unrelated first responders and family members.
Further knowledge sharing is required to understand this community's needs.
Turning to ‘Trusted Others’: A Narrative Review of Providing Social Support to First Responders.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Volume 19, December 2022.
First responders, such as paramedics and firefighters, encounter duty-related traumatic exposures, which can lead to post-traumatic stress (PTS). Although social support protects against PTS, we know little about how first responders’ families, spouses/partners, friends, and care-partners (i.e., ‘trusted others’) provide social support. This narrative review explores support behaviors, coping strategies, and resources trusted others use to support first responders. A structured literature search yielded 24 articles.
The Potential Value of Training Family Members to Provide Psychological First Aid (PFA) to Their First Responders.
Family First (Chapter 14)
Occupational Stress Injuries (Book) 1st edition 2024
Public safety personnel (PSP) encounter both organizational and operational stressors, including potentially psychologically traumatic events, which increase their risk for compromised mental health. Due to unique cultural complexities, they often turn to peers for early psychosocial support. However, since appropriate assistance is not always available or accessible, PSP may suffer. Improving accessibility to crisis intervention will improve PSP resilience, well-being, and effective functioning. Family members and close friends are ideally placed to provide this immediate care. In the current chapter, we outline the protective role of social support as an early intervention strategy to mitigate vicarious trauma.
Breaking down barriers to help-seeking; preparing first responder families for psychological first aid.
Family First (Chapter 14)
European Journal of Psychotraumatology, Volume 13, April 2022.
We need more accessible routes to crisis intervention to ensure first responder resilience and wellbeing, so they may continue to function in the service of public safety.Family members and close friends may be ideally placed to provide this immediate care.This article outlines the protective role of social support as an early intervention strategy to mitigate the effects of first responder trauma, exploring the potential opportunity for family members and friends to play an increasingly supportive role in their loved one’s wellbeing.
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