scholarly journals Alcohol Consumption and COVID-19–Related Stress Among Health Care Workers: The Need for Continued Stress-Management Interventions

2022 ◽  
pp. 003335492110581
Author(s):  
Kaylin J. Beiter ◽  
Ross P. Wiedemann ◽  
Casey L. Thomas ◽  
Erich J. Conrad

Objectives: Although a known association exists between stress and alcohol consumption among health care workers (HCWs), it is not known how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected this association. We assessed pandemic work-related stress and alcohol consumption of HCWs. Methods: We emailed a cross-sectional, anonymous survey in June 2020 to approximately 550 HCWs at an academic hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana. HCWs from all departments were eligible to complete the survey. Questions measured work-related stress and emotional reactions to the pandemic (using the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome [MERS-CoV] Staff Questionnaire), depressive symptoms (using the Patient Health Questionnaire–9 [PHQ-9]), coping habits (using the Brief COPE scale), and pre–COVID-19 (March 2020) and current (June 2020) alcohol consumption. We measured alcohol consumption using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test–Consumption (AUDIT–C), with scores >3 considered positive. We asked 4 open-ended questions for in-depth analysis. Results: One-hundred two HCWs participated in the survey. The average AUDIT–C scores for current and pre–COVID-19 alcohol consumption were 3.1 and 2.8, respectively. The level of current alcohol consumption was associated with avoidant coping (r = 0.46, P < .001). Relative increases in alcohol consumption from March to June 2020 were positively associated with PHQ-9 score and greater emotional reactions to the pandemic. Availability of mental health services was ranked second to last among desired supports. Qualitative data demonstrated high levels of work-related stress from potential exposure to COVID-19 and job instability, as well as social isolation and negative effects of the pandemic on their work environment. Conclusions: Ongoing prevention-based interventions that emphasize stress management rather than mental or behavioral health conditions are needed.

2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 559-568 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin G. Mistretta ◽  
Mary C. Davis ◽  
M’hamed Temkit ◽  
Christopher Lorenz ◽  
Betty Darby ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kumar Saurabh ◽  
Shilpi Ranjan

AbstractObjectiveCoronavirus Disease 2019 is a new threat to human lives worldwide. Preparedness of institutions during epidemic outbreak has a pivotal role in saving lives and preventing further spread. At the same time, these pandemics impact badly on professional and personal life of Health care workers. The objective of this study is to find the opinion of Health care workers regarding their level of preparedness, concerns and perceived impact related to this pandemic outbreak.Materials and Methodsin this study, random samples of doctors and nurses was provided with a self-administered questionnaire regarding their preparedness, work and non-work related concerns and impact on their lives during Covid-19 outbreak.ResultsMost of the Health Care Workers believed that their institute preparation to fight Covid-19 pandemic is better than prior to onset of this crisis (p⍰0.001). Work related stress was seen more commonly in nurses whereas higher frequency of non-work related stress was observed among doctors. Nurses (75.55%) faith in their employer was more than doctors faith (46.66%) regarding their medical needs. There was more acceptance of hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic drug for Covid-19 in doctors compared to nurses (p ⍰0.01).ConclusionsThough this institute was more prepared at the time of pandemic spread, substantial opportunity of improvement remains. The consistency of work and non work related anxiety and stress in health care workers is very high in present study group. Concerns and risks of Health Care Workers should be addressed ethically and adequately by strengthening safety measures and building trust in the system they work.


Author(s):  
Iffath Unissa Syed

Background: Currently, there is abundant research indicating that smoking and alcohol consumption have significant impacts on morbidity and mortality, though little is known about these behaviors among Canadian health care workers. The objective of this study was to examine health and coping behaviors, such as smoking and alcohol consumption as well as stress management techniques, among health care workers consisting of gendered, racialized, and immigrant employees. Methods: Drawing on a single-case, mixed-methods study in Ontario, Canada, this paper presents under-researched data about smoking practices, alcohol consumption, and stress management techniques among health care workers in labor-intensive, high-stress, high-turnover environments. In particular, it identifies the various mechanisms for maintaining health and well-being. Results: The findings suggest that 7.7% of survey respondents reported smoking while 43.4% reported alcohol consumption, which were reported more frequently among immigrants than among non-immigrants. Participants also reported health-promoting activities in face-to-face interviews, such as mindful breathing techniques and drawing upon social support, while a few respondents reported alcohol consumption to specifically cope with sleep disturbances and job stress. Conclusions: Although smoking and alcohol consumption were both connected with coping strategies and leisure, they were predominant in immigrant groups compared to non-immigrant groups.


2016 ◽  
pp. 28-39
Author(s):  
Elsa Maria Vásquez-Trespalacios ◽  
◽  
Verónica Palacio-Jaramillo ◽  
Myrna Gómez-Parra ◽  
Lydis Romero-Arrieta ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katinka Linnamäki

The purpose of this paper is to examine the Hungarian Fidesz-KDNP government´s discursive practices of control and care during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper researches the Hungarian government’s communication on the official Hungarian COVID-19 Facebook page during the first wave of the pandemic. Its aim is to answer the question how the Hungarian government articulated control and care to reinforce sedimented gendered division of care work and institutions of control to tackle the potential disruption of the system of care before the widespread vaccination of the elderly population was available in the country. The paper argues that the pandemic has allowed the government to exert control in areas, such as the crisis in the workforce market and health care system, as well as in the destabilized system of care work. The main finding is that in the material the government performs control over care work, whose intensified discussion during the pandemic could lead to a potential disruption within the illiberal logic on two different levels. First, physical care work related to immediate physical needs, like hunger, clothing, pain enacted by female shoppers, female health care workers and female social workers, is newly defined during the pandemic as local, family-bound and a naturally female task. Second, the government articulates care work, either as potentially harmful (for the elderly population and thus indirectly to the government’s familialist politics), or as vulnerable and in need of protection from outside influences (portrayed through the interaction of health care workers and “hospital commanders”). This enables the government to perform full state control over care workers through the mobilization of police and military masculinity and to strengthen and re-naturalize the already existing hierarchies between traditional gender roles from a new perspective during the pandemic. This state of affairs highlights the vulnerability both of the elderly population, on whom its familialism builds, and of the system of informal care work, which builds on the unpaid care work of female citizens, who paradoxically are also articulated as potential harm for the elderly and for the system.


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