TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring the Well-being of Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
T2 - Protocol for a Prospective Longitudinal Study
AU - Liu, Jenny J. W.
AU - Nazarov, Anthony
AU - Plouffe, Rachel A.
AU - Forchuk, Callista A.
AU - Deda, Erisa
AU - Gargala, Dominic
AU - Le, Tri
AU - Bourret-Gheysen, Jesse
AU - Soares, Vanessa
AU - Nouri, Maede S.
AU - Hosseiny, Fardous
AU - Smith, Patrick
AU - Roth, Maya
AU - MacDougall, Arlene G.
AU - Marlborough, Michelle
AU - Jetly, Rakesh
AU - Heber, Alexandra
AU - Albuquerque, Joy
AU - Lanius, Ruth
AU - Balderson, Ken
AU - Dupuis, Gabrielle
AU - Mehta, Viraj
AU - Don Richardson, J.
N1 - Copyright:
©Jenny J W Liu, Anthony Nazarov, Rachel A Plouffe, Callista A Forchuk, Erisa Deda, Dominic Gargala, Tri Le, Jesse Bourret-Gheysen, Vanessa Soares, Maede S Nouri, Fardous Hosseiny, Patrick Smith, Maya Roth, Arlene G MacDougall, Michelle Marlborough, Rakesh Jetly, Alexandra Heber, Joy Albuquerque, Ruth Lanius, Ken Balderson, Gabrielle Dupuis, Viraj Mehta, J Don Richardson.
PY - 2021/9/27
Y1 - 2021/9/27
N2 - Background: Health care workers (HCWs) have experienced several stressors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Structural stressors, including extended work hours, redeployment, and changes in organizational mandates, often intersect with interpersonal and personal stressors, such as caring for those with COVID-19 infections; worrying about infection of self, family, and loved ones; working despite shortages of personal protective equipment; and encountering various difficult moral-ethical dilemmas. Objective: The paper describes the protocol for a longitudinal study seeking to capture the unique experiences, challenges, and changes faced by HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study seeks to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the mental well-being of HCWs with a particular focus on moral distress, perceptions of and satisfaction with delivery of care, and how changes in work structure are tolerated among HCWs providing clinical services. Methods: A prospective longitudinal design is employed to assess HCWs’ experiences across domains of mental health (depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and well-being), moral distress and moral reasoning, work-related changes and telehealth, organizational responses to COVID-19 concerns, and experiences with COVID-19 infections to self and to others. We recruited HCWs from across Canada through convenience snowball sampling to participate in either a short-form or long-form web-based survey at baseline. Respondents to the baseline survey are invited to complete a follow-up survey every 3 months, for a total of 18 months. Results: A total of 1926 participants completed baseline surveys between June 26 and December 31, 2020, and 1859 participants provided their emails to contact them to participate in follow-up surveys. As of July 2021, data collection is ongoing, with participants nearing the 6- or 9-month follow-up periods depending on their initial time of self-enrollment. Conclusions: This protocol describes a study that will provide unique insights into the immediate and longitudinal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dimensions of mental health, moral distress, health care delivery, and workplace environment of HCWs. The feasibility and acceptability of implementing a short-form and long-form survey on participant engagement and data retention will also be discussed. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/32663
AB - Background: Health care workers (HCWs) have experienced several stressors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Structural stressors, including extended work hours, redeployment, and changes in organizational mandates, often intersect with interpersonal and personal stressors, such as caring for those with COVID-19 infections; worrying about infection of self, family, and loved ones; working despite shortages of personal protective equipment; and encountering various difficult moral-ethical dilemmas. Objective: The paper describes the protocol for a longitudinal study seeking to capture the unique experiences, challenges, and changes faced by HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study seeks to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the mental well-being of HCWs with a particular focus on moral distress, perceptions of and satisfaction with delivery of care, and how changes in work structure are tolerated among HCWs providing clinical services. Methods: A prospective longitudinal design is employed to assess HCWs’ experiences across domains of mental health (depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and well-being), moral distress and moral reasoning, work-related changes and telehealth, organizational responses to COVID-19 concerns, and experiences with COVID-19 infections to self and to others. We recruited HCWs from across Canada through convenience snowball sampling to participate in either a short-form or long-form web-based survey at baseline. Respondents to the baseline survey are invited to complete a follow-up survey every 3 months, for a total of 18 months. Results: A total of 1926 participants completed baseline surveys between June 26 and December 31, 2020, and 1859 participants provided their emails to contact them to participate in follow-up surveys. As of July 2021, data collection is ongoing, with participants nearing the 6- or 9-month follow-up periods depending on their initial time of self-enrollment. Conclusions: This protocol describes a study that will provide unique insights into the immediate and longitudinal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dimensions of mental health, moral distress, health care delivery, and workplace environment of HCWs. The feasibility and acceptability of implementing a short-form and long-form survey on participant engagement and data retention will also be discussed. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/32663
KW - Challenge
KW - COVID-19
KW - Design
KW - Distress
KW - Health care worker
KW - Impact
KW - Longitudinal
KW - Mental health
KW - Pandemic
KW - Perception
KW - Prospective
KW - Protocol
KW - Survey
KW - Wellbeing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85116529605&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2196/32663
DO - 10.2196/32663
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85116529605
SN - 1929-0748
VL - 10
JO - JMIR Research Protocols
JF - JMIR Research Protocols
IS - 9
M1 - e32663
ER -