Risk and Protective Factors for the Mental Wellbeing of Deployed Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic in China: A Qualitative Study
Background: Though many literatures documented burnout and occupational hazard among healthcare workers and frontliners during pandemic, not many adopted a systemic approach to look at the resilience among this population. Another under-studied population was the large numbers of global healthcare w...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.773510/full |
| _version_ | 1818539710468849664 |
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| author | Vicky Poh Hoay Khoo Vicky Poh Hoay Khoo Rachel Sing-Kiat Ting Xinli Wang Yuanshan Luo Janet Seeley Jason J. Ong Jason J. Ong Min Zhao Julie Morsillo Chunyan Su Xiaoxing Fu Lei Zhang Lei Zhang Lei Zhang Lei Zhang |
| author_facet | Vicky Poh Hoay Khoo Vicky Poh Hoay Khoo Rachel Sing-Kiat Ting Xinli Wang Yuanshan Luo Janet Seeley Jason J. Ong Jason J. Ong Min Zhao Julie Morsillo Chunyan Su Xiaoxing Fu Lei Zhang Lei Zhang Lei Zhang Lei Zhang |
| author_sort | Vicky Poh Hoay Khoo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Though many literatures documented burnout and occupational hazard among healthcare workers and frontliners during pandemic, not many adopted a systemic approach to look at the resilience among this population. Another under-studied population was the large numbers of global healthcare workers who have been deployed to tackle the crisis of COVID-19 pandemic in the less resourceful regions. We investigated both the mental wellbeing risk and protective factors of a deployed healthcare workers (DHWs) team in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak during 2020.Method: A consensual qualitative research approach was adopted with 25 DHWs from H province through semi-structured interviews after 3 months of deployment period.Results: Inductive-Deductive thematic coding with self-reflexivity revealed multi-layered risk and protective factors for DHWs at the COVID-19 frontline. Intensive working schedule and high-risk environment, compounded by unfamiliar work setting and colleagues; local culture adaptation; isolation from usual social circle, strained the DHWs. Meanwhile, reciprocal relationships and “familial relatedness” with patients and colleagues; organizational support to the DHWs and their immediate families back home, formed crucial wellbeing resources in sustaining the DHWs. The dynamic and dialectical relationships between risk and protective factors embedded in multiple layers of relational contexts could be mapped into a socio-ecological framework.Conclusion: Our multidisciplinary study highlights the unique social connectedness between patient-DHWs; within DHWs team; between deploying hospital and DHWs; and between DHWs and the local partners. We recommend five organizational strategies as mental health promotion and capacity building for DHWs to build a resilient network and prevent burnout at the disaster frontline. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T21:45:41Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-05f89dbe53ab4d6581c30665dfc34897 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T21:45:41Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-05f89dbe53ab4d6581c30665dfc348972022-12-22T00:49:37ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782021-12-011210.3389/fpsyg.2021.773510773510Risk and Protective Factors for the Mental Wellbeing of Deployed Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic in China: A Qualitative StudyVicky Poh Hoay Khoo0Vicky Poh Hoay Khoo1Rachel Sing-Kiat Ting2Xinli Wang3Yuanshan Luo4Janet Seeley5Jason J. Ong6Jason J. Ong7Min Zhao8Julie Morsillo9Chunyan Su10Xiaoxing Fu11Lei Zhang12Lei Zhang13Lei Zhang14Lei Zhang15China-Australia Joint Research Centre for Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Centre, Xi’an, ChinaSchool of Arts and Social Sciences, Eastern College Australia, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaDepartment of Psychology, Monash University Malaysia, Subang Jaya, MalaysiaOriental Evaluation Center of NPO and Social Service, Shanghai, ChinaZhongshan Experiment Middle School Counselling Centre, Guangzhou, ChinaDepartment of Global Health and Development, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, University of London, London, United KingdomMelbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Health, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaCentral Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaChina-Australia Joint Research Centre for Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Centre, Xi’an, ChinaSchool of Arts and Social Sciences, Eastern College Australia, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaSchool of Journalism and Communication, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China0School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China, Beijing, ChinaChina-Australia Joint Research Centre for Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Centre, Xi’an, ChinaMelbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Health, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaCentral Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia1Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, ChinaBackground: Though many literatures documented burnout and occupational hazard among healthcare workers and frontliners during pandemic, not many adopted a systemic approach to look at the resilience among this population. Another under-studied population was the large numbers of global healthcare workers who have been deployed to tackle the crisis of COVID-19 pandemic in the less resourceful regions. We investigated both the mental wellbeing risk and protective factors of a deployed healthcare workers (DHWs) team in Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak during 2020.Method: A consensual qualitative research approach was adopted with 25 DHWs from H province through semi-structured interviews after 3 months of deployment period.Results: Inductive-Deductive thematic coding with self-reflexivity revealed multi-layered risk and protective factors for DHWs at the COVID-19 frontline. Intensive working schedule and high-risk environment, compounded by unfamiliar work setting and colleagues; local culture adaptation; isolation from usual social circle, strained the DHWs. Meanwhile, reciprocal relationships and “familial relatedness” with patients and colleagues; organizational support to the DHWs and their immediate families back home, formed crucial wellbeing resources in sustaining the DHWs. The dynamic and dialectical relationships between risk and protective factors embedded in multiple layers of relational contexts could be mapped into a socio-ecological framework.Conclusion: Our multidisciplinary study highlights the unique social connectedness between patient-DHWs; within DHWs team; between deploying hospital and DHWs; and between DHWs and the local partners. We recommend five organizational strategies as mental health promotion and capacity building for DHWs to build a resilient network and prevent burnout at the disaster frontline.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.773510/fullCOVID-19 pandemicdeployed healthcare workersmental healthrisk and protective factorsqualitative studyresilience |
| spellingShingle | Vicky Poh Hoay Khoo Vicky Poh Hoay Khoo Rachel Sing-Kiat Ting Xinli Wang Yuanshan Luo Janet Seeley Jason J. Ong Jason J. Ong Min Zhao Julie Morsillo Chunyan Su Xiaoxing Fu Lei Zhang Lei Zhang Lei Zhang Lei Zhang Risk and Protective Factors for the Mental Wellbeing of Deployed Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic in China: A Qualitative Study Frontiers in Psychology COVID-19 pandemic deployed healthcare workers mental health risk and protective factors qualitative study resilience |
| title | Risk and Protective Factors for the Mental Wellbeing of Deployed Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic in China: A Qualitative Study |
| title_full | Risk and Protective Factors for the Mental Wellbeing of Deployed Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic in China: A Qualitative Study |
| title_fullStr | Risk and Protective Factors for the Mental Wellbeing of Deployed Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic in China: A Qualitative Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Risk and Protective Factors for the Mental Wellbeing of Deployed Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic in China: A Qualitative Study |
| title_short | Risk and Protective Factors for the Mental Wellbeing of Deployed Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic in China: A Qualitative Study |
| title_sort | risk and protective factors for the mental wellbeing of deployed healthcare workers during the covid 19 pandemic in china a qualitative study |
| topic | COVID-19 pandemic deployed healthcare workers mental health risk and protective factors qualitative study resilience |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.773510/full |
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