Abstract

A healthy police force is a key component of a well-functioning society, yet 1 in 20 law enforcement recruits drop out of the recruit training programme due to injury. This drop-out rate has substantial economic and workforce ramifications. In the Western Australia Police Force, one in five recruits suffers a musculoskeletal injury during the recruit training programme, causing time-loss from work. We will now identify the critical elements of an injury prevention intervention and investigate the needs, experiences and suggested solutions to address potential implementation challenges. Our objective is to co-create an intervention with content and context experts, specifically for Western Australia Police Force recruits, to reduce injury prevalence, incidence rates and burden. A mixed-method participatory action research approach will guide intervention cocreation. Phase 1 will include concept mapping and phase 2 will include focus groups. This research will develop an intervention that the Western Australia Police Force can deliver to reduce injury prevalence, incidence rates and burden among recruits. The effectiveness of the intervention in reducing injury burden, economic burden and implementation will be evaluated.

RAS ID

79416

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

1-1-2025

Volume

11

Issue

1

Funding Information

National Health and Medical Research Council / Western Australia Department of Health Major Research Application Support Scheme

School

Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute / School of Medical and Health Sciences / Exercise Medicine Research Institute

Grant Number

NHMRC Number : APP2035789

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Publisher

BMJ Publishing Group

Comments

Murphy, M. C., Mosler, A. B., Hodgson, J., Nimphius, S., Verhagen, E., Kemp, J., Donaldson, A., Langridge, D., Sutton, V. R., Crossley, K. M., Ardern, C. L., Emery, C. A., Kennedy, M. A., Radavelli-Bagatini, S., Hägglund, M., Green, B., Haff, G. G., Allen, G., & Bruder, A. (2025). Cocreating a programme to prevent injuries and improve performance in Australian Police Force recruits: A study protocol. BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjsem-2025-002531

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1136/bmjsem-2025-002531