Frontline Health Care Workers’ Mental Health and Well-Being During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of Interviews and Social Media Data
BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on fractures in health care systems worldwide and continues to have a significant impact, particularly in relation to the health care workforce. Frontline staff have been exposed to unprecedented strain, and delivering care durin...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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JMIR Publications
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| Online Access: | https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e43000 |
| _version_ | 1797743583661391872 |
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| author | Norha Vera San Juan Sam Martin Anna Badley Laura Maio Petra C Gronholm Caroline Buck Elaine C Flores Samantha Vanderslott Aron Syversen Sophie Mulcahy Symmons Inayah Uddin Amelia Karia Syka Iqbal Cecilia Vindrola-Padros |
| author_facet | Norha Vera San Juan Sam Martin Anna Badley Laura Maio Petra C Gronholm Caroline Buck Elaine C Flores Samantha Vanderslott Aron Syversen Sophie Mulcahy Symmons Inayah Uddin Amelia Karia Syka Iqbal Cecilia Vindrola-Padros |
| author_sort | Norha Vera San Juan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on fractures in health care systems worldwide and continues to have a significant impact, particularly in relation to the health care workforce. Frontline staff have been exposed to unprecedented strain, and delivering care during the pandemic has affected their safety, mental health, and well-being.
ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore the experiences of health care workers (HCWs) delivering care in the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 pandemic to understand their well-being needs, experiences, and strategies used to maintain well-being (at individual and organizational levels).
MethodsWe analyzed 94 telephone interviews with HCWs and 2000 tweets about HCWs’ mental health during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
ResultsThe results were grouped under 6 themes: redeployment, clinical work, and sense of duty; well-being support and HCW’s coping strategies; negative mental health effects; organizational support; social network and support; and public and government support.
ConclusionsThese findings demonstrate the need for open conversations, where staff’s well-being needs and the strategies they adopted can be shared and encouraged, rather than implementing top-down psychological interventions alone. At the macro level, the findings also highlighted the impact on HCW’s well-being of public and government support as well as the need to ensure protection through personal protective equipment, testing, and vaccines for frontline workers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:57:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6449d4cd36ee4f05a80436b1cd37131c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1438-8871 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:57:32Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-6449d4cd36ee4f05a80436b1cd37131c2023-08-14T14:46:32ZengJMIR PublicationsJournal of Medical Internet Research1438-88712023-08-0125e4300010.2196/43000Frontline Health Care Workers’ Mental Health and Well-Being During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of Interviews and Social Media DataNorha Vera San Juanhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8677-7341Sam Martinhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4466-8374Anna Badleyhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2678-0650Laura Maiohttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1003-3650Petra C Gronholmhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4482-6993Caroline Buckhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6663-3842Elaine C Floreshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-6195-9595Samantha Vanderslotthttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8685-7758Aron Syversenhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0021-8758Sophie Mulcahy Symmonshttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0749-6582Inayah Uddinhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6924-1142Amelia Kariahttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3115-2395Syka Iqbalhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5292-5871Cecilia Vindrola-Padroshttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7859-1646 BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on fractures in health care systems worldwide and continues to have a significant impact, particularly in relation to the health care workforce. Frontline staff have been exposed to unprecedented strain, and delivering care during the pandemic has affected their safety, mental health, and well-being. ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore the experiences of health care workers (HCWs) delivering care in the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 pandemic to understand their well-being needs, experiences, and strategies used to maintain well-being (at individual and organizational levels). MethodsWe analyzed 94 telephone interviews with HCWs and 2000 tweets about HCWs’ mental health during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. ResultsThe results were grouped under 6 themes: redeployment, clinical work, and sense of duty; well-being support and HCW’s coping strategies; negative mental health effects; organizational support; social network and support; and public and government support. ConclusionsThese findings demonstrate the need for open conversations, where staff’s well-being needs and the strategies they adopted can be shared and encouraged, rather than implementing top-down psychological interventions alone. At the macro level, the findings also highlighted the impact on HCW’s well-being of public and government support as well as the need to ensure protection through personal protective equipment, testing, and vaccines for frontline workers.https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e43000 |
| spellingShingle | Norha Vera San Juan Sam Martin Anna Badley Laura Maio Petra C Gronholm Caroline Buck Elaine C Flores Samantha Vanderslott Aron Syversen Sophie Mulcahy Symmons Inayah Uddin Amelia Karia Syka Iqbal Cecilia Vindrola-Padros Frontline Health Care Workers’ Mental Health and Well-Being During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of Interviews and Social Media Data Journal of Medical Internet Research |
| title | Frontline Health Care Workers’ Mental Health and Well-Being During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of Interviews and Social Media Data |
| title_full | Frontline Health Care Workers’ Mental Health and Well-Being During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of Interviews and Social Media Data |
| title_fullStr | Frontline Health Care Workers’ Mental Health and Well-Being During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of Interviews and Social Media Data |
| title_full_unstemmed | Frontline Health Care Workers’ Mental Health and Well-Being During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of Interviews and Social Media Data |
| title_short | Frontline Health Care Workers’ Mental Health and Well-Being During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of Interviews and Social Media Data |
| title_sort | frontline health care workers mental health and well being during the first year of the covid 19 pandemic analysis of interviews and social media data |
| url | https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e43000 |
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