Quality of life and subjective well-being of professional firefighters in Taiwan Available to Purchase

Firefighting is a stressful occupation, but the mental health of firefighters has usually been overlooked. The purpose of this study was to survey the subjective well-being (SWB) and quality of life (QOL) of firefighters in Taiwan. The firefighters (N=432) were recruited from the Fire Bureau. Two culture-specific questionnaires, the WHOQOL-BREF Taiwan version for QOL and the short form Chinese Happiness Inventory (CHI) for the SWB, and the demographic characteristic questionnaire were applied in this study. All of the questionnaires scores from the participants were lower than that from the national norm. The participants who followed the 48on/24off shift schedule reported the lowest scores among the participants. Firefighters in Taiwan suffer from poor SWB and poor QOL. The shift work schedules and mental health promotion should be reconsidered, and policies should be implemented to improve firefighters’ SWB and QOL.