Mindset as a resilience resource and perceived wellness of first responders in a South African context
Abstract
The global increase in frequency and intensity of disasters and emergency situations has a
major disruptive effect on societies that is especially visible in Africa, where conflict, poverty,
diseases and social unrest are some of the biggest factors contributing to societal vulnerability.
Developing countries such as South Africa are vulnerable to the impact of disaster situations
that strain the society’s ability to deal with these emergencies. First responders play an
important function responding to disasters but are exposed to work-related stressors that
could impact their performance. Several international studies make a link between wellness,
performance and resilience and the use of resilience resources in the development and
enhancement of wellness, indicating that resilience resources such as a resilient mindset are an
indicator of good mental health and performance amongst first responders, despite being
exposed to traumatic situations. However, very little research has been carried out on first
responders in South Africa, making this study an important stepping stone towards gaining an
understanding of the relationship between mindset as a resilience resource and perceived
wellness of first responders in a South African context. Data were collected from 52 first
responders using a structured questionnaire. The results indicate a statistically significant
relationship between mindset and perceived wellness, with all the wellness factors indicating
that the mindset of first responders plays a crucial role in their resilience and perception of
wellness, necessitating additional research in this specialised field of disaster response.