A guide to moral injury

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, first responders have been under intense stress making critical decisions like triaging life-saving care when resources are limited or postponing ‘non-essential’ care such as psychotherapy for patients with mental health conditions.

If this moral stress is not addressed, it can cause long term injury – moral injury.

We need organization, team, and individual supports for our frontline workers now.

When we feel that we’ve done something wrong ourselves, we may feel guilt or shame. When we feel that someone else has done something wrong, we may feel anger or disgust. These feelings, if left unresolved, may lead to moral injury.

Moral injury refers to the psychological, social and spiritual impact of events involving betrayal or transgression of one’s own deeply held moral beliefs and values occurring in high stakes situations.

Now imagine you’re a first responder during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

The Centre of Excellence on PTSD and Related Mental Health Conditions is committed to being a leader in equitable and inclusive research and knowledge mobilization practices and is taking a partnership approach to community-based work. We know that population-based research and initiatives can be more relevant and meaningful and have more of an impact in communities when they are responsive to the community’s unique needs and values, informed by lived and living experience, and done in authentic collaboration with communities.

Beginning with the foundational work of the Guide to Moral Injury and this supplement, we are seeking to cultivate relationships and partnerships with associations, organizations, community leaders, and people with lived and living experience to co-design a project (or projects) that will enhance understanding of this emergent issue in healthcare in Canada.

As part of this process, we are open to invitations to partner, collaborate with or support associations and community organizations interested in enhancing our collective understanding of this emergent issue in healthcare in Canada. Please contact us at info-coe@theroyal.ca.