Supporting Psychological Health in First Responders (SPHIFR)

Apply for funding for services or research supporting mental health in first responders and emergency workers.

Alberta’s firefighters, police officers, paramedics, sheriffs, corrections officers and emergency workers often deal with stressful, dangerous and traumatic situations. This stress has a negative impact on first responders and emergency workers. They experience post-traumatic stress injuries (PTSI) at significantly higher rates than the general population.

For this program’s purposes, “emergency workers” are those who encounter serious, unexpected and often dangerous situations requiring immediate action as part of their jobs.

The Supporting Psychological Health in First Responders (SPHIFR) grant program has 2 separate funding streams:

• Stream 1 (Services) provides funding for non-profit organizations that provide services that support first responders and emergency workers living with or at risk for PTSI.
• Stream 2 (Applied research) provides funding to researchers engaged in applied research that generates evidence on prevention or intervention for first responders and emergency workers living with or at risk for PTSI.