scholarly journals Sexual Harassment by Patients, Clients, and Residents: Investigating Its Prevalence, Frequency and Associations with Impaired Well-Being among Social and Healthcare Workers in Germany

Author(s):  
Mareike Adler ◽  
Sylvie Vincent-Höper ◽  
Claudia Vaupel ◽  
Sabine Gregersen ◽  
Anja Schablon ◽  
...  

Social and healthcare workers are at high risk of experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace. Although sexual harassment is detrimental to people’s well-being, only a few studies have systematically investigated social and healthcare workers’ experiences of different forms of sexually harassing behaviors by patients, clients, and residents in Germany. This study aimed to address this gap by determining the prevalence rates and frequency of nonverbal, verbal, and physical sexual harassment by patients, clients, and residents against social and healthcare workers. In addition, we examined the associations of sexual harassment with workers’ well-being and described employees’ awareness of offers of organizational support for sexual harassment prevention and aftercare. Data were collected from N = 901 employees working in a total of 61 facilities, including inpatient and outpatient care, psychiatric facilities, hospitals, and facilities for persons with disabilities. While the prevalence, frequency, and predominant forms of sexual harassment differed across sectors, the results indicated that nonverbal, verbal and physical sexual harassment were highly prevalent in social and healthcare work, with both men and women being affected. Furthermore, we found that sexual harassment was positively related to impaired well-being (e.g., depressiveness and psychosomatic complaints). In terms of support offers for sexual harassment prevention and aftercare, we found that approximately one-third of social and healthcare workers were not aware of any offers at their facilities. In addition to highlighting the problem of sexual harassment by patients, clients, and residents in social and healthcare settings, this study provides recommendations for the development of interventions and suggests several avenues for future research.

2021 ◽  
pp. 104420732110275
Author(s):  
Alex Nester Jiya ◽  
Maxwell Peprah Opoku ◽  
William Nketsia ◽  
Joslin Alexei Dogbe ◽  
Josephine Nkrumah Adusei

Deplorable living conditions among persons with disabilities and the need to improve their living conditions cannot be overemphasized. This has triggered international discussion on the need for deliberate social policies to bridge the poverty gap between persons with and without disabilities. In Malawi, expansion of financial services has been identified as an essential tool to accelerate economic and inclusive development. However, empirical studies are yet to explore the preparedness of financial institutions to extend their services to persons with disabilities. In this qualitative study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers from commercial banks in Malawi to understand their perspectives on extending financial services to persons with disabilities. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and a descriptive thematic analysis was performed. Although participants reiterated the need to provide persons with disabilities with financial services to improve their well-being, few initiatives have been undertaken to improve their participation. Particularly, participants stated that barriers, such as a lack of financial literacy and adaptive technologies, communication barriers, and high rates of unemployment, explained the reluctance of commercial banks to extend financial services to persons with disabilities. The limitations, recommendations for future research, and implications of the study for policymaking have been highlighted.


Author(s):  
Shabboo Valipoor ◽  
Sheila J. Bosch

While healthcare design research has primarily focused on patient outcomes, there is a growing recognition that environmental interventions could do more by promoting the overall quality of care, and this requires expanding the focus to the health and well-being of those who deliver care to patients. Healthcare professionals are under high levels of stress, leading to burnout, job dissatisfaction, and poor patient care. Among other tools, mindfulness is recommended as a way of decreasing stress and helping workers function at higher levels. This article aims to identify potential environmental strategies for reducing work-related stressors and facilitating mindfulness in healthcare settings. By examining existing evidence on workplace mindfulness and stress-reducing design strategies, we highlight the power of the physical environment in not only alleviating stressful conditions but intentionally encouraging a mindful perspective. Strategies like minimizing distractions or avoiding overstimulation in the healthcare environment can be more effective if implemented along with the provision of designated spaces for mindfulness-based programs. Future research may explore optimal methods and hospital workers’ preferences for environments that support mindfulness and stress management. The long-term goal of all these efforts is to enhance healthcare professionals’ well-being, reignite their professional enthusiasm, and help them be resilient in times of stress.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. e053396
Author(s):  
Jehanita Jesuthasan ◽  
Richard A Powell ◽  
Victoria Burmester ◽  
Dasha Nicholls

ObjectiveTo gain exploratory insights into the multifaceted, lived experience impact of COVID-19 on a small sample of ethnic minority healthcare staff to cocreate a module of questions for follow-up online surveys on the well-being of healthcare staff during the pandemic.DesignA cross-sectional design using two online focus groups among ethnic minority healthcare workers who worked in care or supportive roles in a hospital, community health or primary care setting for at least 12 months.ParticipantsThirteen healthcare workers (11 female) aged 26–62 years from diverse ethnic minority backgrounds, 11 working in clinical roles.ResultsFive primary thematic domains emerged: (1) viral vulnerability, centring around perceived individual risk and vulnerability perceptions; (2) risk assessment, comprising pressures to comply, perception of a tick-box exercise and issues with risk and resource stratification; (3) interpersonal relations in the workplace, highlighting deficient consultation of ethnic minority staff, cultural insensitivity, need for support and collegiate judgement; (4) lived experience of racial inequality, consisting of job insecurity and the exacerbation of systemic racism and its emotional burden; (5) community attitudes, including public prejudice and judgement, and patient appreciation.ConclusionsOur novel study has shown ethnic minority National Health Service (NHS) staff have experienced COVID-19 in a complex, multidimensional manner. Future research with a larger sample should further examine the complexity of these experiences and should enumerate the extent to which these varied thematic experiences are shared among ethnic minority NHS workers so that more empathetic and supportive management and related occupational practices can be instituted.


Author(s):  
Loreta Kubilienė ◽  
Aušra Griciūtė ◽  
Vilma Miglinė ◽  
Milda Kukulskienė ◽  
Aurima Stankūnienė ◽  
...  

In the case of various emergencies, especially pandemics, healthcare workers are faced with disproportionate pressures. Organizational support plays a significant role in protecting the psychological and physical health of healthcare workers. This interdisciplinary research aims to determine how changes in the physical and psychological well-being of healthcare and pharmacy workers during the first wave of the COVID-19 lockdown are related to work organization factors that support safety and stability. A quantitative research strategy was applied in the research. Data from an electronic survey assessed the changes in the physical and psychological well-being of healthcare and pharmacy workers during the lockdown period and the organizational factors supporting safety and stability. The sample of the quantitative research consisted of 967 employees of healthcare institutions and pharmacies in Lithuania. This research broadens the concept of organizational factors and provides data on their interaction with the changes of employee well-being indicators in a pandemic situation. It was found that positive changes in the evaluation of physical as well as psychological well-being during the COVID-19 lockdown could be consistently predicted by all the analyzed safety and stability supporting organizational factors that were found to be associated with subjective physical well-being and psychological well-being even when adjusting for the effect of socio-demographic factors (gender, age, work field, and specialty). The identification and proper management of organizational factors was significant for the psychological and physical well-being of healthcare workers during the lockdown period. It was found that all estimates of safety and stability supporting organizational factors during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown were positively related and could act as protective factors to the subjective physical and psychological well-being of healthcare and pharmacy workers.


2020 ◽  
pp. 135910532093117
Author(s):  
Peter Martin ◽  
Joseph Kim ◽  
Angelica Jasper ◽  
Yousun Baek ◽  
Daniel Russell

The purpose of this research was to develop a brief assessment of health personality, defined as a set of individual dispositions that are directly related to health. In Study 1, an initial pool of items was developed with 615 older adults, 65 years of age and older. The scale was reduced to a 15-item version for use in applied health care settings. Results indicated that the ‘Health Personality Assessment scale’ has good internal consistency, and the five-factors correlated significantly with self-reported measures of physical health and well-being. In Study 2, the scale was cross-validated with 254 older adults from the Health Literacy and Cognitive Function among Older Adults Study. The scale was refined and a third study consisted of 3,907 older adults. Reliability and validity of the scale were confirmed. Future research should evaluate the usefulness of this scale in applied healthcare settings.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002085232110338
Author(s):  
Palina Prysmakova ◽  
Nicole Lallatin

A qualitative meta-analysis of 57 studies (1987–2018) on perceived organizational support in public and nonprofit administrative contexts in various parts of the world revealed 70 related variables within 16 categories. While most reviewed studies sampled employees of the US, the UK, and Iran, in terms of geography, research on the perceived organizational support of public and nonprofit services has been constantly spreading and has been revealing similar findings across countries. While the article questions the generalizability of some findings due to the overreliance on small convenience samples from educational, health, and social work facilities, it supports the generalizability of many found associations even though they happen in various international, organizational, and institutional settings. In particular, in public-serving contexts, perceived organizational support exhibits stable and positive relationships with commitment, intent to stay, motivation, satisfaction derived from job and tasks, well-being, empowerment, reduced stress, work–family balance, and individual growth. Meanwhile, the positive perceptions of support link negatively to unionization and reveal no consistent patterns regarding demographics. The article invites scholars to explore public and nonprofit contexts further, and to test previously overlooked associations like those with leadership type, reward expectancy, public service motivation, and withdrawal activities. Points for practitioners Perceived organizational support should be cultivated in public and nonprofit contexts, as it improves employees’ commitment, motivation, satisfaction, and well-being, and reduces stress. Perceived organizational support might matter for retention more than the content of a job. Employees who feel supported demonstrate better work–family balance and positively perceive many aspects of their organizations. Promoting perceived organizational support helps when intensive workloads and high levels of stress are inadequately compensated. Perceived organizational support can mitigate employees’ burnout caused by the emotional labor of service provision.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhythm Joshi ◽  
Nidhi B. Agarwal ◽  
Dinesh Bhurani ◽  
Mohd. Ashif Khan

Purpose: The emergence of SARS CoV-2, has imposed high pressure on the healthcare system worldwide. As a consequence, frontline healthcare workers were impacted widely. The aim of this systematic review is to examine the impact of COVID-19 on mental status of FHW during pandemic. Methods: Databases such as PubMed, Scopus, google scholar were searched extensively from the date of inception till April 2021. All cross-sectional studies published in English assessing the mental condition and well-being of frontline caregivers during COVID-19 were included in the study. The quality assessment was done by Newcastle Ottawa scale. Results: Ten thousand eight hundred sixty-nine articles were found. After conscientious literature search, total 78 articles were included satisfying the objective of the review. The highest and lowest values for the rates of depression, anxiety and insomnia was found to be 99.51% & 6.07%, 85.7% & 73.6%, and 5.3% & 11.4%, respectively. Conclusion: It has been found that FHW were psychologically impacted by the pandemic. This could be due to lack of resources such as PPE, organizational support, inefficient relevant knowledge regarding the novel virus, its extremely indelible transmission rates, fear of contamination, stigmatization, and/or due to prevalence of ignorance by government and health policy makers. Prospero registration no- CRD42021244612 Key words; Mental disorders, Frontline healthcare workers, Psychosomatic disorders, psychological morbidities, COVID-19.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Ma ◽  
Xi Chen ◽  
Qiongjuan Zheng ◽  
Yun Zhang ◽  
Zhi Ming ◽  
...  

Introduction: Workplace violence (WPV) against healthcare providers has severe consequences and is underreported worldwide. The aim of this study was to present the features, causes, and outcomes of serious WPV against healthcare providers in China.Method: We searched for serious WPV events reported online and analyzed information about time, location, people, methods, motivations, and outcomes related to the incident.Result: Serious WPV reported online in China (n = 379) were mainly physical (97%) and often involved the use of weapons (34.5%). Doctors were victims in most instances (81.1%). Serious WPV mostly happened in cities (90.2%), teaching hospitals (87.4%), and tertiary hospitals (67.9%) and frequently in Emergency Department (ED), Obstetrics and Gynecology Department (OB-GYN), and pediatric departments; it was most prevalent in the months of June, May, and February. Rates of serious WPV increased dramatically in 2014 and decreased after 2015, with death (12.8%), severe injury (6%), and hospitalization (24.2%) being the major outcomes. A law protecting healthcare providers implemented in 2015 may have helped curb the violence.Conclusion: Serious WPV in China may stem from poor patient–doctor relationships, overly stressed health providers in highly demanding hospitals, poorly educated/informed patients, insufficient legal protection, and poor communication. Furthering knowledge about WPV and working toward curtailing its presence in healthcare settings are crucial to increasing the safety and well-being of healthcare workers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Ehsan S. S. Saad ◽  
Samah M. Elsayed

Context: Nurses need support at all levels in the organization. When staff nurses perceive organizational support, this can promote their sense of well-being, raise positive work behaviors and enhance their autonomy in patient care and unit operational decisions through having the right to make decisions and do their best to increases productivity and achieve organizational goals. Aim: The current study aimed to assess organizational support as perceived by staff nurses and its relation to their autonomy. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional analytical research design utilized to achieve the aim of the current study. This study conducted in all units of Benha University Hospital. Study subjects were301 out of 1224 staff nurses; their selection was based on a simple random sample. Two tools used for data collection namely perceived organizational support questionnaire and staff nurses' autonomy scale. Results: The result of the study yield that more than two-thirds (73.3%) of the studied staff nurses had low perception levels regarding organizational support, while less than half (45.8%) of them had moderate autonomy levels. Also, there was a highly statistically significant positive correlation (p-value <0.001) between organizational support as perceived by studied staff nurses and their autonomy. Conclusions: The study concluded that a positive, highly statistically significant correlation was found between organizational support as perceived by studied staff nurses and their autonomy. The study recommended that hospital as an organization should clarify available types of its organizational support for staff nurses and encourage them to express their needs and put strategies to increase needed support. Hospital administrators should enhance staff nurses’ autonomy regarding patients' care and the unit's operational decisions. A training program should be provided for staff nurses about how to be more autonomous to make independent, wise decisions. Future research is suggested regarding a broader cross-section replication of this study for diverse nurses from all over the country that may yield generalization of the results. Also, further research is needed to explore barriers that staff nurses face in autonomous decision making and how to promote them in participation in unit operational decisions.


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