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The National Police Wellbeing Service has announced it has been awarded a Police STAR funding grant to conduct a comparative study of its sleep, fatigue and recovery biometrics programme in partnership with Liverpool John Moores University.
Over the past two years, The National Police Wellbeing Service has been working with Merseyside Police, Liverpool John Moores University and international subject matter experts to develop this 120-day programme which harnesses the latest in biometric technology, data solutions and online learning.
Numerous surveys and studies show that sleep and fatigue are huge issues in policing and can be the catalyst for a number of other issues affecting physical and mental health.
Not only that, but they are also highly stigmatised and often misunderstood. This programme has been developed to:
- Provide people with a personalised solution to help them better understand their own health and wellbeing.
- Give them the data which will provide them with an accurate picture of their sleep, fatigue and recovery rates.
- Increase their awareness of why they may be feeling tired, stressed or anxious.
- Provide educational resources to help people improve the areas where they may need help.
It has been piloted in several forces with over 700 officers and staff having already taken part, and it is about to move into its third phase, opening up to a further 27 police forces this spring.
“This Police STAR grant will enable us to independently evaluate the impact of the system we have created using feedback from operational users.
“Developing a system which is ‘created by policing for policing’ has been a huge challenge and we are excited about working with LJMU to add depth to our initial findings with an ambition, one day, to provide this support for anyone in policing who wants to benefit.”
Andy Rhodes OBE QPM, Service Director for the National Police Wellbeing Service.
Not only will this programme have huge benefits for the individuals who take part, it will also help the services understand at a local and national level the impacts of sleep, fatigue and recovery on officers and staff.
The overarching trends and themes create a clearer picture which means services can make more informed decisions and tailor health and wellbeing strategies and interventions as well as provide more meaningful support for everyone who works in policing.
“At a time when officers and staff are facing significant workload and resource pressures and many experiencing major health issues, this research is timely and follows on from our pilot studies which have focused on monitoring wellbeing in forces across the UK.
“This study on using wearable technology methods allow us to better understand the quality of life of police officers and staff and their motivations for behaviour change, whilst ensuring the anonymity of individuals.”
“The research, which will run for 12 months from July, involves experts in policing, health, mathematics, psychology and exercise science.”
Dr Carol Cox, Head of Liverpool Centre for Advanced Policing Studies at Liverpool John Moores University.
Find out more about the programme here.