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Occupational Disruptions during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Association with Healthcare Workers’ Mental Health

Background: The COVID-19 crisis has caused prolonged and extreme demands on healthcare services. This study investigates the types and prevalence of occupational disruptions, and associated symptoms of mental illness, among Australian frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method...

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Autores principales: Smallwood, Natasha, Pascoe, Amy, Karimi, Leila, Bismark, Marie, Willis, Karen
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8431156/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34501854
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18179263
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author Smallwood, Natasha
Pascoe, Amy
Karimi, Leila
Bismark, Marie
Willis, Karen
author_facet Smallwood, Natasha
Pascoe, Amy
Karimi, Leila
Bismark, Marie
Willis, Karen
author_sort Smallwood, Natasha
collection PubMed
description Background: The COVID-19 crisis has caused prolonged and extreme demands on healthcare services. This study investigates the types and prevalence of occupational disruptions, and associated symptoms of mental illness, among Australian frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A national cross-sectional online survey was conducted between 27 August and 23 October 2020. Frontline healthcare workers were invited to participate via dissemination from major health organisations, professional associations or colleges, universities, government contacts, and national media. Data were collected on demographics, home and work situations, and validated scales of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and burnout. Results: Complete responses were received from 7846 healthcare workers (82.4%). Most respondents were female (80.9%) and resided in the Australian state of Victoria (85.2%). Changes to working conditions were common, with 48.5% reporting altered paid or unpaid hours, and many redeployed (16.8%) or changing work roles (27.3%). Nearly a third (30.8%) had experienced a reduction in household income during the pandemic. Symptoms of mental illness were common, being present in 62.1% of participants. Many respondents felt well supported by their workplaces (68.3%) and believed that workplace communication was timely and useful (74.4%). Participants who felt well supported by their organisation had approximately half the risk of experiencing moderate to severe anxiety, depression, burnout, and PTSD. Half (50.4%) of respondents indicated a need for additional training in using personal protective equipment and/or caring for patients with COVID-19. Conclusions: Occupational disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic occurred commonly in health organisations and were associated with worse mental health outcomes in the Australian health workforce. Feeling well supported was associated with significantly fewer adverse mental health outcomes. Crisis preparedness focusing on the provision of timely and useful communication and support is essential in current and future crises.
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spelling pubmed-84311562021-09-11 Occupational Disruptions during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Association with Healthcare Workers’ Mental Health Smallwood, Natasha Pascoe, Amy Karimi, Leila Bismark, Marie Willis, Karen Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Background: The COVID-19 crisis has caused prolonged and extreme demands on healthcare services. This study investigates the types and prevalence of occupational disruptions, and associated symptoms of mental illness, among Australian frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A national cross-sectional online survey was conducted between 27 August and 23 October 2020. Frontline healthcare workers were invited to participate via dissemination from major health organisations, professional associations or colleges, universities, government contacts, and national media. Data were collected on demographics, home and work situations, and validated scales of anxiety, depression, PTSD, and burnout. Results: Complete responses were received from 7846 healthcare workers (82.4%). Most respondents were female (80.9%) and resided in the Australian state of Victoria (85.2%). Changes to working conditions were common, with 48.5% reporting altered paid or unpaid hours, and many redeployed (16.8%) or changing work roles (27.3%). Nearly a third (30.8%) had experienced a reduction in household income during the pandemic. Symptoms of mental illness were common, being present in 62.1% of participants. Many respondents felt well supported by their workplaces (68.3%) and believed that workplace communication was timely and useful (74.4%). Participants who felt well supported by their organisation had approximately half the risk of experiencing moderate to severe anxiety, depression, burnout, and PTSD. Half (50.4%) of respondents indicated a need for additional training in using personal protective equipment and/or caring for patients with COVID-19. Conclusions: Occupational disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic occurred commonly in health organisations and were associated with worse mental health outcomes in the Australian health workforce. Feeling well supported was associated with significantly fewer adverse mental health outcomes. Crisis preparedness focusing on the provision of timely and useful communication and support is essential in current and future crises. MDPI 2021-09-02 /pmc/articles/PMC8431156/ /pubmed/34501854 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18179263 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Smallwood, Natasha
Pascoe, Amy
Karimi, Leila
Bismark, Marie
Willis, Karen
Occupational Disruptions during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Association with Healthcare Workers’ Mental Health
title Occupational Disruptions during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Association with Healthcare Workers’ Mental Health
title_full Occupational Disruptions during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Association with Healthcare Workers’ Mental Health
title_fullStr Occupational Disruptions during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Association with Healthcare Workers’ Mental Health
title_full_unstemmed Occupational Disruptions during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Association with Healthcare Workers’ Mental Health
title_short Occupational Disruptions during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Association with Healthcare Workers’ Mental Health
title_sort occupational disruptions during the covid-19 pandemic and their association with healthcare workers’ mental health
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8431156/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34501854
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18179263
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