Daniels, J, Ingram, J, Pease, A, Wainwright, E, Beckett, K, Iyadurai, La, Harris, S, Donnelly, O, Roberts, T and Carlton, E (2021) 'The COVID-19 Clinician Cohort (CoCCo) Study: empirically grounded recommendations for forward-facing psychological care of frontline doctors.' International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18 (18). e9675. ISSN 1660-4601
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Abstract
This study aimed to develop empirically grounded recommendations and a coherent model of psychological care derived from the experiences and psychological care needs of COVID-19 frontline doctors, using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. Participants were UK frontline doctors specialising in Emergency Medicine, Anaesthetics, or Intensive Care (n = 31) purposively sampled for maximum variation on gender, specialty, ethnicity, and trauma-related distress; most worked in ICU during the pandemic (71%). Four themes were derived: (1) ‘coping strategies’, participants used many, including exercise, mindfulness, and “wait until it gets really bad”; (2) ‘sources of support’, participants valued embedded psychological support, digital services, and informal conversations with colleagues or family, though there was little opportunity; (3) ‘organisational influences on wellbeing’, participants reported a love–hate relationship for concepts like ‘wellbeing’, seen as important but insulting when basic workplace needs were unmet; (4) ‘improving engagement with support’, analysis suggests we must reduce physical and psychological barriers to access and encourage leaders to model psychologically supportive behaviours. Doctors’ frontline COVID-19 working experiences shine a ‘spotlight’ on pre-existing problems such as lack of physical resources and access to psychological care. Empirically grounded recommendations and a model of incremental psychological care are presented for use in clinical services.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Keywords: | COVID-19, frontline workers, healthcare workers, qualitative research, trauma, psychological support, occupational health, guidelines, KEF |
| Divisions: | School of Sciences |
| Identification Number: | https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189675 |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Feb 2024 12:05 |
| Last Modified: | 27 Feb 2024 14:31 |
| URI / Page ID: | https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/16102 |
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