Vitality, resilience and the need for support among hospital employees during the COVID-19 pandemic: study protocol of a mixed-methods study

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the physical and mental functioning of healthcare professionals, especially those working on the ‘frontline’, and other hospital workers. At the onset of the crisis, various interventions were introduced to promote resilience and offer mental support to these professionals. However, it is unknown whether the interventions will meet the needs of professionals as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.The goal of this exploratory study is to gain insight in factors that protect the vitality and resilience of Dutch hospital employees during the so-called ‘second wave’ of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper describes the study protocol.Methods and analysisThis exploratory study applies a mixed-methods design, using both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis. The first part of the study (substudy I) consists of surveys among doctors and nurses in COVID-19 departments and non-COVID-19 departments, and other professionals in the hospital (ie, managers and homeworkers) in 2020 and 2021. The second part of the study (substudy II) consists of focus groups and interviews among professionals of the intensive care unit, COVID-19 departments and infection prevention units.Ethics and disseminationThe research protocol for this study has been approved by the Medical Ethics Committee (MEC-2020-0705). The outcomes of this study will be used to develop and implement interventions to support hospital employees maintaining their vitality and resilience during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees with vitality experience less work-related stress and make a positive contribution to healthcare quality.

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Promoting Psychological Well-Being at Work by Reducing Stress and Improving Sleep: Mixed-Methods Analysis (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.9058 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Denny Meyer ◽

Madawa W Jayawardana ◽

Samuel D Muir ◽

David Yen-Teh Ho ◽

Olivia Sackett

Keyword(s):

Mixed Methods ◽

Outcome Measures ◽

Linear Models ◽

Response Rates ◽

Well Being ◽

Psychological Well Being ◽

Global Challenge ◽

Work Related ◽

Related Stress

BACKGROUND Workplace programs designed to improve the health and psychological well-being of employees are becoming increasingly popular. However, there are mixed reports regarding the effectiveness of such programs and little analysis of what helps people to engage with such programs. OBJECTIVE This evaluation of a particularly broad, team-based, digital health and well-being program uses mixed methods to identify the elements of the program that reduce work stress and promote psychological well-being, sleep quality, and productivity of employees. METHODS Participation in the Virgin Pulse Global Challenge program during May to September 2016 was studied. Self-reported stress, sleep quality, productivity, and psychological well-being data were collected both pre- and postprogram. Participant experience data were collected through a third final survey. However, the response rates for the last 2 surveys were only 48% and 10%, respectively. A random forest was used to estimate the probability of the completion of the last 2 surveys based on the preprogram assessment data and the demographic data for the entire sample (N=178,350). The inverse of these estimated probabilities were used as weights in hierarchical linear models in an attempt to address any estimation bias caused by the low response rates. These linear models described changes in psychological well-being, stress, sleep, and productivity over the duration of the program in relation to gender and age, engagement with each of the modules, each of the program features, and participant descriptions of the Virgin Pulse Global Challenge. A 0.1% significance level was used due to the large sample size for the final survey (N=18,653). RESULTS The final analysis suggested that the program is more beneficial for older people, with 2.9% greater psychological well-being improvements observed on average in the case of women than men (P<.001). With one exception, all the program modules contributed significantly to the outcome measures with the following average improvements observed: psychological well-being, 4.1%-6.0%; quality of sleep, 3.2%-6.9%; work-related stress, 1.7%-6.8%; and productivity, 1.9%-4.2%. However, only 4 of the program features were found to have significant associations with the outcome measures with the following average improvements observed: psychological well-being, 3.7%-5.6%; quality of sleep, 3.4%-6.5%; work-related stress, 4.1%-6.4%; and productivity, 1.6%-3.2%. Finally, descriptions of the Virgin Pulse Global Challenge produced 5 text topics that were related to the outcome measures. Healthy lifestyle descriptions showed a positive association with outcomes, whereas physical activity and step count tracking descriptions showed a negative association with outcomes. CONCLUSIONS The complementary use of qualitative and quantitative survey data in a mixed-methods analysis provided rich information that will inform the development of this and other programs designed to improve employee health. However, the low response rates and the lack of a control group are limitations, despite the attempts to address these problems in the analysis.

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The importance of leisure as a means of coping with work related stress: An exploratory study

Counselling Psychology Quarterly ◽

10.1080/09515070110103999 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 59-72 ◽

Cited By ~ 43

Author(s):

Linda Trenberth ◽

Philip Dewe

Keyword(s):

Exploratory Study ◽

Work Related Stress ◽

Work Related ◽

Related Stress

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Bibliotherapy-based Wellness Program for Healthcare Providers: Using Books and Reading to Create a Healthy Workplace

Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association / Journal de l Association de bilbiothèques de la santé du Canada ◽

10.5596/c17-010 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 38 (2) ◽

pp. 44-50 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Natalia Tukhareli

Keyword(s):

Healthcare Providers ◽

Well Being ◽

Health Department ◽

Reading Program ◽

Health And Wellness ◽

Hospital Employees ◽

Work Related ◽

Healthy Workplace ◽

Related Stress ◽

The Uk

Within the context of benefits of a healthy workplace, bibliotherapy is seen as an effective way of promoting health and wellness to hospital employees. The paper will present a detailed description of an innovative informational and recreational bibliotherapy-based reading program for healthcare providers developed and implemented by a Health Sciences library, in collaboration with the Occupational Health department. The methodology involved an extensive review of the bibliotherapy research and best practices in the UK and North America. The mechanics, benefits, and challenges of the program will be discussed. The program evaluation included an internal survey to the hospital employees. The evaluation results show that the bibliotherapy program has provided a new venue to address work-related stress and promote health, well-being, and resilience within the organization. Moreover, it helped to expand opportunities for collaborative projects and partnerships for the library as well as increase visibility of the library within the organization.

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