Significant strain on employees under COVID-19, not just in intensive care units
26.04.2022 15:45
In an online survey of 1,291 employees in social pediatrics, around 15 percent showed evidence of a depressive disorder and 17 percent of an anxiety disorder. Almost 45 percent, or almost half, of those surveyed felt emotionally exhausted. These data are comparable to surveys among nursing staff in acute wards. The online survey is part of the large multicenter “VOICE study” with a network of researchers from the university hospitals of Erlangen, Bonn, Ulm, Cologne and Dresden, among others. For the employees in social pediatrics it was coordinated by Prof. Dr. Peter Borusiak (University of Witten/Herdecke, LVR Clinic Bonn), their results have now been published in the journal “Archives of Public Health”.
As a cross-sectional science, social pediatrics deals with children and young people with developmental disorders and disabilities in the context of their social and family environment. “Interestingly, concern for patients or relatives was often higher than concern for themselves. “The employees also describe internal protective measures such as optimistic attitudes, emotional and social support, a greater sense of coherence, a higher quality of life and sufficient relaxation in their free time,” explains Prof. Borusiak, factors that were assessed as effective in terms of resilience.
Since many employees were virtually unable to work due to the contact restrictions in the first “lockdown” shortly before the survey, the results on workload probably reflect an unequal distribution of work in this situation. In the future, distribution and responsibility plans could provide relief on the one hand and a better workload on the other. Further measures for emotional and social support should be taken, especially at a political or operational level, as this has emerged in the study as one of the central resilience factors.
“Even if there are only a few good, controlled studies that have specifically examined interventions in an epidemic or pandemic event, one can rely on analogous interventions that have proven themselves in other crisis situations. There are some mental health support programs that have also been well evaluated, e.g. B. about burnout or emotional exhaustion. Some of these offers can also be implemented with digital options in the context of a pandemic,” says Prof. Borusiak.
You can find the study here.
To the background:
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have the world firmly in its grip. The physical and psychological stress on employees in intensive care units and acute hospitals is well documented. In everyday life, however, the stress can also be felt in other areas. Researchers with the participation of the University of Witten/Herdecke investigated this aspect. Under the coordination of Prof. Dr. Peter Borusiak (UW/H), with the support of the Wagener Foundation (Yuliya Mazheika), the survey was carried out with the involvement of the Federal Association of Social Pediatric Centers (Dr. Ilona Krois), the Association for Interdisciplinary Early Intervention (VIFF; Prof. Dr. Liane Simon and Dr . Christian Fricke) and the Working Group for Preventive and Social Medicine Vorarlberg (AKS; Dr. Susanne Bauer and PD Dr. Edda Haberlandt).