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Reaching “covidianidad”: A qualitative study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the perceived mental health of health care workers in the Dominican Republic
We aimed to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the lives of healthcare workers (HCWs) in the Dominican Republic. We also aimed to identify the types of resources that HCWs felt were needed to support their mental health. We used purposive and convenience sampling in four health centers in th...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Public Library of Science
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10691706/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38039282 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0002652 |
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author | Baez Caraballo, Pamela Schriger, Simone Escober, Jessica Acevedo, Ana García Alejandro, Antonio Halpern, Mina Lowenthal, Elizabeth |
author_facet | Baez Caraballo, Pamela Schriger, Simone Escober, Jessica Acevedo, Ana García Alejandro, Antonio Halpern, Mina Lowenthal, Elizabeth |
author_sort | Baez Caraballo, Pamela |
collection | PubMed |
description | We aimed to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the lives of healthcare workers (HCWs) in the Dominican Republic. We also aimed to identify the types of resources that HCWs felt were needed to support their mental health. We used purposive and convenience sampling in four health centers in the eastern Dominican Republic to recruit 28 HCWs (doctors, nurses, psychologists, and community health workers) between April 2021 and August 2021. Through semi-structured interviews, we elicited HCWs experiences during the pandemic and how they felt these experiences impacted their mental health. Interview transcripts were analyzed using an inductive/deductive thematic approach. Main stressors experienced during the pandemic by HCWs and their sequelae included anxiety due to misinformation and uncertainty, fear of the disease, the robustness of pandemic-related changes they faced in their work and daily life, and COVID-19’s economic impact. HCWs reflected on protective factors that transformed their acute sense of crisis felt at the beginning of the pandemic into what HCWs referred to as “covidianidad [everyday COVID]”, a situation that became manageable through mechanisms including social support, professional motivation, positive work environment and resilience. Lastly, HCWs identified stigmatization of and limited access to mental health services as challenges to supporting their mental health. While Dominican HCWs were vulnerable to the challenges posed by COVID-19 in sustaining their mental health, for many, the situation became manageable through the evolution of “covidianidad.” Further research and interventions are needed to reduce stigmatization of mental health services and foment a positive environment for HCWs’ mental health, to promote resiliency to future challenges. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10691706 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Public Library of Science |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-106917062023-12-02 Reaching “covidianidad”: A qualitative study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the perceived mental health of health care workers in the Dominican Republic Baez Caraballo, Pamela Schriger, Simone Escober, Jessica Acevedo, Ana García Alejandro, Antonio Halpern, Mina Lowenthal, Elizabeth PLOS Glob Public Health Research Article We aimed to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the lives of healthcare workers (HCWs) in the Dominican Republic. We also aimed to identify the types of resources that HCWs felt were needed to support their mental health. We used purposive and convenience sampling in four health centers in the eastern Dominican Republic to recruit 28 HCWs (doctors, nurses, psychologists, and community health workers) between April 2021 and August 2021. Through semi-structured interviews, we elicited HCWs experiences during the pandemic and how they felt these experiences impacted their mental health. Interview transcripts were analyzed using an inductive/deductive thematic approach. Main stressors experienced during the pandemic by HCWs and their sequelae included anxiety due to misinformation and uncertainty, fear of the disease, the robustness of pandemic-related changes they faced in their work and daily life, and COVID-19’s economic impact. HCWs reflected on protective factors that transformed their acute sense of crisis felt at the beginning of the pandemic into what HCWs referred to as “covidianidad [everyday COVID]”, a situation that became manageable through mechanisms including social support, professional motivation, positive work environment and resilience. Lastly, HCWs identified stigmatization of and limited access to mental health services as challenges to supporting their mental health. While Dominican HCWs were vulnerable to the challenges posed by COVID-19 in sustaining their mental health, for many, the situation became manageable through the evolution of “covidianidad.” Further research and interventions are needed to reduce stigmatization of mental health services and foment a positive environment for HCWs’ mental health, to promote resiliency to future challenges. Public Library of Science 2023-12-01 /pmc/articles/PMC10691706/ /pubmed/38039282 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0002652 Text en © 2023 Baez Caraballo et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Research Article Baez Caraballo, Pamela Schriger, Simone Escober, Jessica Acevedo, Ana García Alejandro, Antonio Halpern, Mina Lowenthal, Elizabeth Reaching “covidianidad”: A qualitative study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the perceived mental health of health care workers in the Dominican Republic |
title | Reaching “covidianidad”: A qualitative study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the perceived mental health of health care workers in the Dominican Republic |
title_full | Reaching “covidianidad”: A qualitative study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the perceived mental health of health care workers in the Dominican Republic |
title_fullStr | Reaching “covidianidad”: A qualitative study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the perceived mental health of health care workers in the Dominican Republic |
title_full_unstemmed | Reaching “covidianidad”: A qualitative study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the perceived mental health of health care workers in the Dominican Republic |
title_short | Reaching “covidianidad”: A qualitative study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the perceived mental health of health care workers in the Dominican Republic |
title_sort | reaching “covidianidad”: a qualitative study of the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the perceived mental health of health care workers in the dominican republic |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10691706/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38039282 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0002652 |
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