After working as a 911 dispatcher for two years, Katherine Sweeney chose to write her Ph.D. dissertation on the impact of the career on individuals both mentally and physically.A job meant to support her through graduate school became the catalyst for Katherine Sweeney’s finding her passion. In 2020, she stepped into the high-pressure world of 911 dispatching — a decision that ultimately inspired her to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Alabama at Birmingham to study the mental health challenges faced by those on the other end of the line.

For two years, Sweeney answered life-or-death calls across Alabama and Tennessee, serving as the critical first point of contact for emergencies.

Although she loved helping others, the demands of the job quickly became overwhelming.

“It is the hardest job I have ever done,” Sweeney said. “Dispatchers often work long, alternating hours, and with the current staffing shortage, overtime can be daunting. The job is sedentary, making it hard to eat properly or exercise. Add the emotional weight of the calls that dispatchers take, and it can create the perfect storm for poor physical and mental health.”

Witnessing the toll on herself and her colleagues inspired Sweeney to write her master’s thesis on the mental health of this career, which she says led to more questions because “dispatchers are a very understudied population.”

“Most published research is about first responders — police, fire and emergency medical technicians — who arrive first on the scene,” Sweeney said. “Working in dispatch, there is a notion that you are the ‘first-first responder’ because you are the first point of contact.”

Sweeney ultimately decided to leave the profession and had to determine what her next step would be. She knew she was interested in sociology and criminology, but she had a desire to look further into the field of dispatching. She decided to pursue a doctoral degree and began to research programs that could align with her passion.

“UAB was one of the only places that has a medical sociology program, so I began to look at the campus and started messaging the faculty, and they were all great,” Sweeney said. “I knew I wanted to come here.”

In 2022, Sweeney enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Medical Sociology, Ph.D. program and received a graduate teaching assistant position with the Department of Sociology and a research assistantship with the UAB Medicine’s Office of Wellness that would provide her with a full scholarship for three years. She and her husband relocated from Huntsville to Birmingham to pursue her dream.

When Sweeney started the program, her eyes were opened to how much of an impact one’s health has and how it is structurally imbedded into society.

“From emotions to religion and economics, our health is vital to the way we live, and in our program, we talk about sociological disciplines and the different branches of sociology and how health is affecting them,” Sweeney said.

Sweeney will graduate with her Ph.D. at the UAB doctoral hooding ceremony on Wednesday, Dec. 10, at the Alys Stephens Center.After three years, Sweeney accepted a position as a protocol analyst with the Institutional Review Board in the UAB Office of Research, continuing her research and utilizing UAB employee educational assistance program for her last few semesters, where she worked to finalize her dissertation.

Sweeney knew she wanted to take the ideas of health in sociology and build on her master’s thesis. Her dissertation, “Emotion Work in Emergency Communication Workers: A Mixed Methods Analysis on Well-Being,” examined the mental and physical health of 911 dispatchers through a survey of 550 individuals and interviews with 24 dispatchers nationwide.

“The results are quite astonishing, and it shows the need for mental health services for dispatchers,” Sweeney said. “These professionals face emotionally taxing scenarios daily, but often lack the time or resources to address their well-being.”

Sweeney is hoping to take the results of her dissertation and continue to shine the light on the need to address the physical and mental health of dispatchers.

“This is not something that I ever dreamed I would end up doing, but it has been an amazing journey and has truly worked out for the best,” Sweeney said.

Sweeney will graduate with her Ph.D. at the UAB doctoral hooding ceremony on Wednesday, Dec. 10, at the Alys Stephens Center.