Mental illness has not only become a major public health concern in this country, with one in five Canadians experiencing a mental health challenge in their lifetime, but indeed it is a global issue recognized by the World Health Organization. Police officers are often the first responders to situations in the community involving mentally ill persons. Police are interacting more often with mentally ill individuals largely because of the impact of deinstitutionalization without adequate community supports being in place, below poverty-level social and disability assistance rates, reduced psychiatric hospital facilities, and homelessness. Therefore it is imperative that frontline officers develop the skills necessary to effectively interact with mentally ill citizens. In turn, police services are recognizing the inadequacy of the current constable training programs in terms of awareness and understanding of mental illness and knowing how best to respond to individuals who appear to be experiencing a mental illness.

This research study evaluates the impact of using simulation to educate police officers about mental illness and how to respond effectively to mentally ill persons. The project further enhances an already established, unique partnership between a regional police services, a mental health facility, and two educational institutions including a college and a university. This research project builds on work through an Inukshuk grant to fund the development of simulations based on common incidents police encounter involving persons presumed to have a mental illness.

The simulations were developed with interactive videos and an adaptive learning system that places police in realistic simulated situations and provides them with opportunities to respond to the situation. Each subsequent video clip and accompanying response options are based on the previous clip and the learner’s selected response at that time. Detailed feedback is also provided to further facilitate the learning process. This gives the individual user an opportunity to learn from his/her mistakes and ultimately ensure the interaction with the mentally ill person has a positive outcome. In addition, the simulations have a self-contained library of resources that provide different learning pathways to accommodate the diversity of learners in the Durham Regional Police Services. The simulations were developed within a Flash framework, using techniques mastered by the UOIT-Durham College Innovation Centre.

The study is a mixed design involving both qualitative and quantitative methods. Research tools include pre and post tests, questionnaires and a series of focus groups. The findings from this study will be made available to a variety of stakeholders including other police services, educational institutions, mental health facilities and services, mental health professionals and members of other helping professions.

This project will add to the simulation literature related to usability and how closely simulations reflect reality. The knowledge and skills that these interactive learning objects are targeting have a broad applicability that extends beyond policing to include members of other helping professions, staff working in mental health facilities, as well as faculty and students in related programs in post secondary educational institutions.