The BOS program was recently featured on Global News Calgary in an article by Demi Knight. Read the following excerpt below:

The study will focus primarily on the families of police, fire and paramedic personnel. Schwartz said the research aims to provide education on how families can process and react to the stresses felt by first responders.

“The goal is that whatever form this takes, whether its person-to-person or online delivery, is that it’s going to have at least two components,” Schwartz said.

“One is kind of a psychoeducation component — letting families in on what we know about how brains and bodies respond to stress, and educating them on how that impacts the first responder.

Schwartz said an eight week “Before Operational Stress” program has been created to help provide psychological intervention to public safety workers, along with a pilot BOS-Families program to evaluate the emotional effects that front-line workers’ stress has on their surrounding family members.

Read the full article at: U of C study aims to create support program for families of first responders