IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i9p5529-d807535.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Strategies for the Psychological Support of the Healthcare Workforce during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The ERNST Study

Author

Listed:
  • Adriana López-Pineda

    (The Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of Valencia Region, 03550 Alicante, Spain
    Health Psychology Department, Miguel Hernandez University, 03202 Elche, Spain)

  • Irene Carrillo

    (Health Psychology Department, Miguel Hernandez University, 03202 Elche, Spain)

  • Aurora Mula

    (The Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of Valencia Region, 03550 Alicante, Spain)

  • Sofia Guerra-Paiva

    (Public Health Research Centre, National School of Public Health, NOVA University of Lisbon, 1600-560 Lisbon, Portugal
    Comprehensive Health Research Center (CHRC), 1600-560 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Reinhard Strametz

    (Wiesbaden Business School, RheinMain University of Applied Science, 65183 Wiesbaden and German Coalition for Patient Safety, 10179 Berlin, Germany)

  • Susanna Tella

    (Faculty of Social Services and Health Care, LAB University of Applied Sciences, 53850 Lappeenranta, Finland)

  • Kris Vanhaecht

    (Department of Quality, University of Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium)

  • Massimiliano Panella

    (Department of Translational Medicine, University of Eastern Piedmont, 28100 Novara, Italy)

  • Bojana Knezevic

    (Department for Quality Assurance and Improvement in Healthcare, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia)

  • Marius-Ionut Ungureanu

    (Department of Public Health, Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babeș-Bolyai University, 400376 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
    Center for Health Workforce Research and Policy, Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babeș-Bolyai University, 400376 Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

  • Einav Srulovici

    (The Cheryl Spencer Department of Nursing, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel)

  • Sandra C. Buttigieg

    (Department of Health Systems Management and Leadership, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, MSD 2080 Msida, Malta)

  • Ivana Skoumalová

    (Department of Health Psychology and Research Methodology, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Safarik University, 040 01 Košice, Slovakia)

  • Paulo Sousa

    (Public Health Research Centre, National School of Public Health, NOVA University of Lisbon, 1600-560 Lisbon, Portugal
    Comprehensive Health Research Center (CHRC), 1600-560 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Jose Mira

    (The Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research of Valencia Region, 03550 Alicante, Spain
    Health Psychology Department, Miguel Hernandez University, 03202 Elche, Spain)

  • on behalf of the ERNST Consortium Collaborators

    (Collaborators ERNST Consortium: Ahmed Novo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Andrea Madarasova Geckova (Slovakia), Miriam Ablöscher (Austria), Peter Tavel (Czech Republic), Peter Dieckmann (Denmark), Kaja Polluste (Estonia), Philippe Michel (France), Sigurbjorg Sigurgeirsdottir (Iceland), Mary Tumelty (Ireland), Augustina Jankauskiene (Lithuania), Neda Milevska Kostova (Macedonia), Artiom Jucov (Moldava), Rianne Wennekes (Netherlands), Gunnar Tschudi Bondevik (Norway), Basia Kutryba (Poland), Nebojša Stilinović (Serbia), David Schwappach (Switzerland), Veronica Lindström (Sweden), Pinar Ayvat (Turkey).)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic led to the implementation of interventions to provide emotional and psychological support to healthcare workers in many countries. This ecological study aims to describe the strategies implemented in different countries to support healthcare professionals during the outbreak. Data were collected through an online survey about the measures to address the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of healthcare workers. Healthcare professionals, researchers, and academics were invited to respond to the survey. Fifty-six professionals from 35 countries contributed data to this study. Ten countries (28.6%) reported that they did not launch any national interventions. Both developed and developing countries launched similar initiatives. There was no relationship between the existence of any type of initiative in a country with the incidence, lethality, and mortality rates of the country due to COVID-19, and per capita income in 2020. The 24 h hotline for psychological support was the most frequent intervention. Tools for self-rescue by using apps or websites were extensively used, too. Other common interventions were the development of action protocols, availability of regular and updated information, implantation of distance learning systems, early detection of infection programs for professionals, economic reinforcements, hiring of staff reinforcement, and modification of leave and vacation dates.

Suggested Citation

  • Adriana López-Pineda & Irene Carrillo & Aurora Mula & Sofia Guerra-Paiva & Reinhard Strametz & Susanna Tella & Kris Vanhaecht & Massimiliano Panella & Bojana Knezevic & Marius-Ionut Ungureanu & Einav , 2022. "Strategies for the Psychological Support of the Healthcare Workforce during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The ERNST Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-17, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:9:p:5529-:d:807535
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/9/5529/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/9/5529/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Linda Matisāne & Linda Paegle & Maija Eglīte & Lāsma Akūlova & Asnate Anna Linde & Ivars Vanadziņš & Iveta Mietule & Jeļena Lonska & Lienīte Litavniece & Iluta Arbidāne & Sarmīte Rozentāle & Ieva Grīn, 2021. "Reasons for Low Protection of Vulnerable Workers from COVID-19—Results from the Quantitative and Qualitative Study on Working Life in Latvia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-20, May.
    2. Isolde Martina Busch & Francesca Moretti & Irene Campagna & Roberto Benoni & Stefano Tardivo & Albert W. Wu & Michela Rimondini, 2021. "Promoting the Psychological Well-Being of Healthcare Providers Facing the Burden of Adverse Events: A Systematic Review of Second Victim Support Resources," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-17, May.
    3. Holly Blake & Alisha Gupta & Mahnoor Javed & Ben Wood & Steph Knowles & Emma Coyne & Joanne Cooper, 2021. "COVID-Well Study: Qualitative Evaluation of Supported Wellbeing Centres and Psychological First Aid for Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-27, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Maike Riegel & Victoria Klemm & Stefan Bushuven & Reinhard Strametz, 2022. "Self-Stigmatization of Healthcare Workers in Intensive Care, Acute, and Emergency Medicine," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-9, October.
    2. Angel Cobos-Vargas & Pastora Pérez-Pérez & María Núñez-Núñez & Eloísa Casado-Fernández & Aurora Bueno-Cavanillas, 2022. "Second Victim Support at the Core of Severe Adverse Event Investigation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-9, December.
    3. Isolde Martina Busch & Michela Rimondini, 2021. "Empowering Patients and Supporting Health Care Providers—New Avenues for High Quality Care and Safety," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-5, September.
    4. Lea Simms & Katherine E. Ottman & James L. Griffith & Michael G. Knight & Lorenzo Norris & Viktoriya Karakcheyeva & Brandon A. Kohrt, 2023. "Psychosocial Peer Support to Address Mental Health and Burnout of Health Care Workers Affected by COVID-19: A Qualitative Evaluation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-18, March.
    5. Katarzyna Rostek & Michał Wiśniewski & Witold Skomra, 2022. "Analysis and Evaluation of Business Continuity Measures Employed in Critical Infrastructure during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-22, November.
    6. Hartwig Marung & Reinhard Strametz & Hannah Roesner & Florian Reifferscheid & Rainer Petzina & Victoria Klemm & Milena Trifunovic-Koenig & Stefan Bushuven, 2023. "Second Victims among German Emergency Medical Services Physicians (SeViD-III-Study)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-11, February.
    7. Katarzyna Olcoń & Julaine Allan & Mim Fox & Ruth Everingham & Padmini Pai & Lynne Keevers & Maria Mackay & Chris Degeling & Sue-Anne Cutmore & Summer Finlay & Kristine Falzon, 2022. "A Narrative Inquiry into the Practices of Healthcare Workers’ Wellness Program: The SEED Experience in New South Wales, Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-14, October.
    8. Milena Trifunovic-Koenig & Reinhard Strametz & Bianka Gerber & Sneha Mantri & Stefan Bushuven, 2022. "Validation of the German Version of the Moral Injury Symptom and Support Scale for Health Professionals (G-MISS-HP) and Its Correlation to the Second Victim Phenomenon," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-19, April.
    9. Ameet Bakhai & Leah McCauley & Liba Stones & Saria Khalil & Jay Mehta & Nicola Price & Vinodh Krishnamurthy & Lucy H. H. Parker & Derralynn Hughes, 2022. "Shining a light on an additional clinical burden: work-related digital communication survey study – COVID-19 impact on NHS staff wellbeing," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, December.
    10. Linda Matisāne & Linda Paegle & Lāsma Akūlova & Ivars Vanadziņš, 2021. "Challenges for Workplace Risk Assessment in Home Offices—Results from a Qualitative Descriptive Study on Working Life during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Latvia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-19, October.
    11. Katja Schrøder & Elisabeth Assing Hvidt, 2023. "Emotional Responses and Support Needs of Healthcare Professionals after Adverse or Traumatic Experiences in Healthcare—Evidence from Seminars on Peer Support," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(9), pages 1-9, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:9:p:5529-:d:807535. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.