scholarly journals “We All Held Our Own”: Job Demands and Resources at Individual, Leader, Group, and Organizational Levels During COVID-19 Outbreak in Health Care. A Multi-Source Qualitative Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 216507992110384
Author(s):  
Davide Giusino ◽  
Marco De Angelis ◽  
Greta Mazzetti ◽  
Marit Christensen ◽  
Siw Tone Innstrand ◽  
...  

Background: Interventions tackling COVID-19 impact on health care workers’ mental health would benefit from being informed by validated and integrated assessment frameworks. This study aimed to explore the fitness of integrating the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model and the Individual-Group-Leader-Organization (IGLO) framework to investigate the pandemic’s impact on health care workers’ mental health. Methods: Qualitative data were collected via 21 semi-structured interviews with senior and middle managers and four focus groups with employees (doctors, nurses, health care assistants) from three areas (Department of Emergency, Department of Medicine, Research Institute of Neuroscience) of a large health care institution facing the first wave of COVID-19. NVivo deductive content analysis of text data was performed. Findings: Several COVID-19-related job demands and resources were found at IGLO levels. Individual-level demands included emotional load, while resources included resilience and motivation. Group-level demands included social distancing, while resources included team support and cohesion. Leader-level demands included managers’ workload, while resources included leader support. Organizational-level demands included work reorganization, while resources included mental health initiatives. Conclusions/Application to Practice: Integrating JD-R and IGLO proved feasible, as job demands and resources could be categorized according to the individual, group, leader, and organization framework. The findings expand previous studies by filling the lack of knowledge on how job demands and resources might unfold at different workplace levels during a pandemic. Results provide unit-level evidence for designing and implementing multilevel interventions to manage health care workers’ mental health during COVID-19 and future pandemics. Our findings offer occupational health practitioners a suitable approach to perform workplace mental health assessment activities.

Author(s):  
Sanjay Kumar Nadigapu Dayanand

COVID-19 the present pandemic like all pandemics puts a strain on both the individual and the community. Human beings are social animals; they need interactions with other human beings in order to maintain good mental health, the present pandemic put a restriction on interactions between people in the form of social distancing, wearing of masks, use of sanitizers and soap and water, which are essential to control the spread of the corona virus but the flip side, it has reduced the family gatherings, going out for restaurants, factors to a great extent that will have impact on psychological health. Health infrastructure and health services across the globe are under enormous pressure and face unprecedented challenges. Medical professionals, health care workers, scientists and other front line workers are on the forefront on one hand they are providing health care to the Covid 19 affected patients and the other hand, building systemic responses both by dissemination of adequate public health approaches, and in parallel, genetic mapping, drug and vaccine development. Every day millions are being infected and thousands have died. This pandemic has put all aspects of normal life on hold. In this scenario mental health care takes a back seat to life or death decisions made by the exhausted health care workers.1


Author(s):  
Kris Vanhaecht ◽  
Deborah Seys ◽  
Luk Bruyneel ◽  
Bianca Cox ◽  
Gorik Kaesemans ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may aggravate workplace conditions that impact health-care workers’ mental health. However, it can also place other stresses on workers outside of their work. This study determines the effect of COVID-19 on symptoms of negative and positive mental health and the workforce’s experience with various sources of support. Effect modification by demographic variables was also studied. Methods A cross-sectional survey study, conducted between 2 April and 4 May 2020 (two waves), led to a convenience sample of 4509 health-care workers in Flanders (Belgium), including paramedics (40.6%), nurses (33.4%), doctors (13.4%) and management staff (12.2%). About three in four were employed in university and acute hospitals (29.6%), primary care practices (25.7%), residential care centers (21.3%) or care sites for disabled and mental health care. In each of the two waves, participants were asked how frequently (on a scale of 0–10) they experienced positive and negative mental health symptoms during normal circumstances and during last week, referred to as before and during COVID-19, respectively. These symptoms were stress, hypervigilance, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, unable to relax, fear, irregular lifestyle, flashback, difficulty concentrating, feeling unhappy and dejected, failing to recognize their own emotional response, doubting knowledge and skills and feeling uncomfortable within the team. Associations between COVID-19 and mental health symptoms were estimated by cumulative logit models and reported as odds ratios. The needed support was our secondary outcome and was reported as the degree to which health-care workers relied on sources of support and how they experienced them. Results All symptoms were significantly more pronounced during versus before COVID-19. For hypervigilance, there was a 12-fold odds (odds ratio 12.24, 95% confidence interval 11.11–13.49) during versus before COVID-19. Positive professional symptoms such as the feeling that one can make a difference were less frequently experienced. The association between COVID-19 and mental health was generally strongest for the age group 30–49 years, females, nurses and residential care centers. Health-care workers reported to rely on support from relatives and peers. A considerable proportion, respectively, 18 and 27%, reported the need for professional guidance from psychologists and more support from their leadership. Conclusions The toll of the crisis has been heavy on health-care workers. Those who carry leadership positions at an organizational or system level should take this opportunity to develop targeted strategies to mitigate key stressors of health-care workers’ mental well-being.


2021 ◽  
Vol 155 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-237
Author(s):  
Luis Manuel Blanco-Donoso ◽  
Jennifer Moreno-Jiménez ◽  
Alberto Amutio ◽  
Marcelo José dos Santos ◽  
Eva Garrosa

PLoS ONE ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. e0233831 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianya Hou ◽  
Taiquan Zhang ◽  
Wenpeng Cai ◽  
Xiangrui Song ◽  
Aibin Chen ◽  
...  

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joop T. V. M. De Jong

SynopsisFrom 1983–1994 a community mental health programme was set up in Guinea-Bissau. The first part of the programme concentrated on epidemiological aspects: rural and urban study areas were selected on socio-economic level and participation in the liberation war. A two-stage design was used to screen 351 adult consecutive general health care attenders and 100 children in a rural and an urban area for mental disorder. Psychiatric disorders have a morbidity of 12% among adults seen in Primary Health Care. Disorders were mainly neuroses (74%), but more psychoses were found than in other countries. No statistically significant difference in morbidity was found between rural-urban areas or between previous war and non-war zones. The diagnostic sensitivity of the Primary Health Care workers was 31%, their diagnostic specificity 88%. Thirteen per cent of the children showed neuropsychiatric disturbances. There were no sociocultural impediments to this public mental health approach. During the following intervention programme 850 Primary Health Care workers were trained and supervised nationwide. The diagnostic sensitivity of major mental disorders and epilepsy increased from 31% to an average of 85%. Before the training, their knowledge of the treatment of these disorders was nil whereas after training 82% of the patients received appropriate treatment. Moreover, this model programme shows a profitable cost/benefit ratio and a high sustainability over the last 10 years.


Author(s):  
Elijah Marangu ◽  
Fethi Mansouri ◽  
Natisha Sands ◽  
David Ndetei ◽  
Peterson Muriithi ◽  
...  

Abstract Aim To assess mental health literacy of health workers in primary health care services in Kenya. Background Mental illness is common in Kenya, yet there are fewer than 500 specialist mental health workers to serve Kenya’s population of over 50 million. The World Health Organization recommends the integration of mental health care into primary health care services to improve access to and equity of this care, especially in low and middle-income countries. An important step to integrating mental health care into primary health care services is to determine mental health literacy levels of the primary health care workforce. Method A cross-sectional survey using Jorm’s Mental Health Literacy Instrument (adapted for the Kenyan context) was administered to 310 primary health care workers in four counties of Kenya. Results Of the 310 questionnaires distributed, 212 (68.3%) were returned. Of the respondents, 13% had a formal mental health qualification, while only 8.7% had received relevant continuing professional development in the five years preceding the survey. Just over one third (35.6%) of primary health care workers could correctly identify depression, with even fewer recognising schizophrenia (15.7%). Conclusions This study provides preliminary information about mental health literacy among primary health care workers in Kenya. The majority of respondents had low mental health literacy as indicated by their inability to identify common mental disorders. While identifying gaps in primary health care workers’ mental health knowledge, these data highlight opportunities for capacity building that can enhance mental health care in Kenya and similar low and middle-income countries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuchen Ying ◽  
Liemin Ruan ◽  
Fanqian Kong ◽  
Binbin Zhu ◽  
Yunxin Ji ◽  
...  

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.


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