scholarly journals Attitudes of mental health workers to treatment in their own workplaces

1996 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-22
Author(s):  
John Stephens ◽  
Mark Prunty ◽  
Wojciech Falkowski

Recent questions have been raised regarding the development of policies by Trusts for the treatment of their locally resident staff outside the hospitals in which they work. A questionnaire was developed to elicit views of mental health care workers on this issue. Overwhelming agreement was found among a wide variety of staff groups on the need for provision of treatment options outside the local service. Considerable thought and planning are needed in the development of formal operational policies to ensure such a service is provided by all hospitals/Trusts.

2020 ◽  
pp. 002076402094074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Selim Arpacioglu ◽  
Meltem Gurler ◽  
Suleyman Cakiroglu

Background: Secondary traumatization exposure and mental health conditions of health care workers gained importance during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic period. Aims: In our study, we aim to research the secondary traumatization and associated factors among health care workers. Method: This cross-sectional study was applied through an online questionnaire using the snowball sampling method. Two hundred fifty-one health care workers from different units/services and 312 non-medical worker adults attended to the research. Health care workers were divided into two groups based on working with COVID-19 patients at the frontline or not. The data were collected via Introductory Information Form, Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS) and Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) between 22 May and 30 May 2020. Results: Among the 563 participants, 251 (44.6%) were health care workers and 312 (55.4%) were non-medical workers. The anxiety, depression and secondary traumatization scores of the frontline health care workers for the COVID-19 were found to be significantly higher than those of the other health workers or non-medical workers ( p < .001). Also, we found that being a woman, being in the first years of the work, living with a parent, having a chronic disease, having a trauma history and increased social media use are related to having higher scores from the secondary traumatization scale. Conclusion: The secondary traumatization exposure and the mental health conditions of the health care workers directly working with the COVID-19 patients should be taken into consideration. It is important to provide social support, examine and control riskier groups for mental health regularly during the pandemic.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1477.2-1477
Author(s):  
K. Ben Abdelghani ◽  
O. Hamdi ◽  
S. Miladi ◽  
M. Sellami ◽  
K. Ouenniche ◽  
...  

Background:Since December 2019, a novel pneumonia caused by coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) has been spreading internationally. Facing this critical pandemic, health care workers who are involved in treating these patients are at risk of developing psychological distress.Objectives:To evaluate mental health outcomes among health care workers treating patients exposed to COVID-19.Methods:This cross-sectional study collected demographic data and mental health measurements from health workers in different hospitals using an online questionnaire. Participants were divided in two groups: G1 included participants working in a COVID-19 unit and G2 included those who worked in a normal ward. Participants were asked to complete the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7). The total scores of these measurement tools were interpreted as follows: PHQ-9 normal (0-4), mild (5-9), moderate (10-14) and severe (15-21) depression; GAD-7 normal (0-4), mild (5-9), moderate (10-14) and severe (15-21) anxiety. We compared the two groups in terms of psychological distress using a Chi-square test.Results:A total of 155 individuals with a mean age of 31.3 ± 25 years [26-45] and a sex-ratio of 0.3 completed the online questionnaire. Seventy-two participants (46%) worked in a COVID-unit. The mean number of nightshifts per month in the COVID-unit was 9.5 in G1 and 1.3 in G2 respectively. The mean number of work hours per day in the COVID unit was 5 hours in G1, and 0 in G2. G2 participants worked in COVID-units during nightshifts only. An increase in workload compared to the pre-epidemic was noted only in G1. Depression and anxiety scores were higher among participants of G1 compared to G2 (Table 1).Table 1.Comparison of the participants according to the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores:ScoreG1G2pMild depression33%12%0.001Moderate depression14%9%0.000Severe depression7%0.9%0.002Mild anxiety29%17%0.005Moderate anxiety18%7.3%0.002Severe anxiety8.4%2.1%0.001G: GroupThe need for psychological support was more frequent in G1 compared to G2 (38% vs 9%; p=0.005). Participants of G1 were diagnosed with depression (9 cases), anxiety (9 cases) and burn-out (3 cases). In G2, 4 participants were diagnosed with anxiety. The prescribed treatments were: antidepressants (5 cases), anxiolytic (10 cases), and psychotherapy (12 cases).Conclusion:Individuals experience varying levels of distress during pandemics. In our study, health care workers in the frontline of COVID-units experienced high levels of anxiety and depression. Thus, necessary measures should be attached to psychological support strategies for health care workers.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


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