Post-pandemic self-reported mental health of mental healthcare professionals in the Netherlands compared to during the pandemic – an online longitudinal follow-up study
The mental health of professionals was under pressure during- and post-pandemic. Initially, the focus was mainly on the health workers in the hospitals, but over time the pressure shifted to other sectors, including mental health care. An increase in workload and decrease in mental health of healthc...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Public Health |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1221427/full |
| _version_ | 1797789119080824832 |
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| author | Lars de Vroege Lars de Vroege Anneloes van den Broek Anneloes van den Broek Anneloes van den Broek |
| author_facet | Lars de Vroege Lars de Vroege Anneloes van den Broek Anneloes van den Broek Anneloes van den Broek |
| author_sort | Lars de Vroege |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The mental health of professionals was under pressure during- and post-pandemic. Initially, the focus was mainly on the health workers in the hospitals, but over time the pressure shifted to other sectors, including mental health care. An increase in workload and decrease in mental health of healthcare professionals in mental health care can lead to a decrease in the available care capacity. In an earlier online survey of mental health professionals, 1,300 professionals from a large number of mental healthcare institutions were involved. In this study, conducted in September 2021, about half of the respondents reported increased levels of stress. Feelings of anxiety, anger, and sadness were also increasingly experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, 4.2% replied that they were considering resigning their jobs. One of the recommendations of this previous study was to monitor these professionals repeatedly to be able to make an estimate of the stress and vision of work during the course of the pandemic and afterwards. Following this recommendation, the online survey was repeated. The aim of the current online longitudinal follow-up study was to re-evaluated mental status of healthcare workers. 510 healthcare workers participated in this follow-up survey. The reported mental health complaints were significantly higher during compared to post-pandemic. Respondents were less able to maintain work/life balance during the pandemic and even reported a shift to work. However, the majority of respondents indicated that they had restored this balance post-pandemic. Moreover, more sick leave was reported post-pandemic than during the pandemic and more frequent absences post-pandemic. This highlights the importance of focusing on resilience over training and career. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T01:46:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0590df23c30742f191b018c546e6072c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-2565 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T01:46:13Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-0590df23c30742f191b018c546e6072c2023-07-03T08:04:26ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652023-07-011110.3389/fpubh.2023.12214271221427Post-pandemic self-reported mental health of mental healthcare professionals in the Netherlands compared to during the pandemic – an online longitudinal follow-up studyLars de Vroege0Lars de Vroege1Anneloes van den Broek2Anneloes van den Broek3Anneloes van den Broek4Tranzo Department, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University, Tilburg, NetherlandsGGz Breburg, Breda, NetherlandsTranzo Department, Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Tilburg University, Tilburg, NetherlandsGGz Breburg, Breda, NetherlandsDepartment of Post Academic Psychology Training and Education, Breburg Academy, GGz Breburg, Tilburg, NetherlandsThe mental health of professionals was under pressure during- and post-pandemic. Initially, the focus was mainly on the health workers in the hospitals, but over time the pressure shifted to other sectors, including mental health care. An increase in workload and decrease in mental health of healthcare professionals in mental health care can lead to a decrease in the available care capacity. In an earlier online survey of mental health professionals, 1,300 professionals from a large number of mental healthcare institutions were involved. In this study, conducted in September 2021, about half of the respondents reported increased levels of stress. Feelings of anxiety, anger, and sadness were also increasingly experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, 4.2% replied that they were considering resigning their jobs. One of the recommendations of this previous study was to monitor these professionals repeatedly to be able to make an estimate of the stress and vision of work during the course of the pandemic and afterwards. Following this recommendation, the online survey was repeated. The aim of the current online longitudinal follow-up study was to re-evaluated mental status of healthcare workers. 510 healthcare workers participated in this follow-up survey. The reported mental health complaints were significantly higher during compared to post-pandemic. Respondents were less able to maintain work/life balance during the pandemic and even reported a shift to work. However, the majority of respondents indicated that they had restored this balance post-pandemic. Moreover, more sick leave was reported post-pandemic than during the pandemic and more frequent absences post-pandemic. This highlights the importance of focusing on resilience over training and career.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1221427/fullCOVID-19pandemicmental healthHCWmental healthcare workersresilience |
| spellingShingle | Lars de Vroege Lars de Vroege Anneloes van den Broek Anneloes van den Broek Anneloes van den Broek Post-pandemic self-reported mental health of mental healthcare professionals in the Netherlands compared to during the pandemic – an online longitudinal follow-up study Frontiers in Public Health COVID-19 pandemic mental health HCW mental healthcare workers resilience |
| title | Post-pandemic self-reported mental health of mental healthcare professionals in the Netherlands compared to during the pandemic – an online longitudinal follow-up study |
| title_full | Post-pandemic self-reported mental health of mental healthcare professionals in the Netherlands compared to during the pandemic – an online longitudinal follow-up study |
| title_fullStr | Post-pandemic self-reported mental health of mental healthcare professionals in the Netherlands compared to during the pandemic – an online longitudinal follow-up study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Post-pandemic self-reported mental health of mental healthcare professionals in the Netherlands compared to during the pandemic – an online longitudinal follow-up study |
| title_short | Post-pandemic self-reported mental health of mental healthcare professionals in the Netherlands compared to during the pandemic – an online longitudinal follow-up study |
| title_sort | post pandemic self reported mental health of mental healthcare professionals in the netherlands compared to during the pandemic an online longitudinal follow up study |
| topic | COVID-19 pandemic mental health HCW mental healthcare workers resilience |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1221427/full |
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