PMID- 34477557
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
LR  - 20240403
IS  - 1929-0748 (Print)
IS  - 1929-0748 (Electronic)
IS  - 1929-0748 (Linking)
VI  - 10
IP  - 9
DP  - 2021 Sep 27
TI  - Exploring the Well-being of Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: 
      Protocol for a Prospective Longitudinal Study.
PG  - e32663
LID - 10.2196/32663 [doi]
LID - e32663
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.
CI  - (c)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. Originally published 
      in JMIR Research Protocols (https://www.researchprotocols.org), 27.09.2021.
FAU - Liu, Jenny J W
AU  - Liu JJW
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-2213-1346
AD  - MacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health 
      Research Institute, St. Joseph's Health Care London, London, ON, Canada.
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western 
      University, London, ON, Canada.
FAU - Nazarov, Anthony
AU  - Nazarov A
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-3288-7609
AD  - MacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health 
      Research Institute, St. Joseph's Health Care London, London, ON, Canada.
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western 
      University, London, ON, Canada.
FAU - Plouffe, Rachel A
AU  - Plouffe RA
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-0393-9008
AD  - MacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health 
      Research Institute, St. Joseph's Health Care London, London, ON, Canada.
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western 
      University, London, ON, Canada.
FAU - Forchuk, Callista A
AU  - Forchuk CA
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-9085-0620
AD  - MacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health 
      Research Institute, St. Joseph's Health Care London, London, ON, Canada.
FAU - Deda, Erisa
AU  - Deda E
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-8887-1094
AD  - MacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health 
      Research Institute, St. Joseph's Health Care London, London, ON, Canada.
FAU - Gargala, Dominic
AU  - Gargala D
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-0531-8240
AD  - MacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health 
      Research Institute, St. Joseph's Health Care London, London, ON, Canada.
FAU - Le, Tri
AU  - Le T
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-6059-3870
AD  - MacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health 
      Research Institute, St. Joseph's Health Care London, London, ON, Canada.
FAU - Bourret-Gheysen, Jesse
AU  - Bourret-Gheysen J
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-4348-2380
AD  - MacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health 
      Research Institute, St. Joseph's Health Care London, London, ON, Canada.
FAU - Soares, Vanessa
AU  - Soares V
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-9129-0506
AD  - MacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health 
      Research Institute, St. Joseph's Health Care London, London, ON, Canada.
FAU - Nouri, Maede S
AU  - Nouri MS
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-0351-1511
AD  - MacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health 
      Research Institute, St. Joseph's Health Care London, London, ON, Canada.
FAU - Hosseiny, Fardous
AU  - Hosseiny F
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-4448-2457
AD  - Centre of Excellence on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Related Mental Health 
      Conditions, Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
FAU - Smith, Patrick
AU  - Smith P
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-1746-9932
AD  - Centre of Excellence on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Related Mental Health 
      Conditions, Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
FAU - Roth, Maya
AU  - Roth M
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-3668-6361
AD  - St. Joseph's Operational Stress Injury Clinic, Greater Toronto Area, ON, Canada.
FAU - MacDougall, Arlene G
AU  - MacDougall AG
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-3253-3966
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western 
      University, London, ON, Canada.
FAU - Marlborough, Michelle
AU  - Marlborough M
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-6800-3927
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western 
      University, London, ON, Canada.
AD  - St. Joseph's Operational Stress Injury Clinic, Greater Toronto Area, ON, Canada.
FAU - Jetly, Rakesh
AU  - Jetly R
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0001-6610-9365
AD  - Canadian Armed Forces, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
FAU - Heber, Alexandra
AU  - Heber A
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-4434-4553
AD  - Veterans Affairs Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
FAU - Albuquerque, Joy
AU  - Albuquerque J
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-2950-0714
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, 
      ON, Canada.
FAU - Lanius, Ruth
AU  - Lanius R
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-3758-1393
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western 
      University, London, ON, Canada.
FAU - Balderson, Ken
AU  - Balderson K
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-2221-1610
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western 
      University, London, ON, Canada.
AD  - St. Joseph's Operational Stress Injury Clinic, Greater Toronto Area, ON, Canada.
FAU - Dupuis, Gabrielle
AU  - Dupuis G
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-5413-4536
AD  - Centre of Excellence on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Related Mental Health 
      Conditions, Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
FAU - Mehta, Viraj
AU  - Mehta V
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0003-2442-8813
AD  - St. Joseph's Operational Stress Injury Clinic, Greater Toronto Area, ON, Canada.
FAU - Richardson, J Don
AU  - Richardson JD
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-2927-6735
AD  - MacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health 
      Research Institute, St. Joseph's Health Care London, London, ON, Canada.
AD  - Department of Psychiatry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western 
      University, London, ON, Canada.
AD  - St. Joseph's Operational Stress Injury Clinic, Greater Toronto Area, ON, Canada.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20210927
PL  - Canada
TA  - JMIR Res Protoc
JT  - JMIR research protocols
JID - 101599504
PMC - PMC8478052
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - COVID-19
OT  - challenge
OT  - design
OT  - distress
OT  - health care worker
OT  - impact
OT  - longitudinal
OT  - mental health
OT  - pandemic
OT  - perception
OT  - prospective
OT  - protocol
OT  - survey
OT  - wellbeing
COIS- Conflicts of Interest: None declared.
EDAT- 2021/09/04 06:00
MHDA- 2021/09/04 06:01
PMCR- 2021/09/27
CRDT- 2021/09/03 12:19
PHST- 2021/08/05 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2021/08/28 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2021/08/27 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2021/09/04 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2021/09/04 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2021/09/03 12:19 [entrez]
PHST- 2021/09/27 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - v10i9e32663 [pii]
AID - 10.2196/32663 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - JMIR Res Protoc. 2021 Sep 27;10(9):e32663. doi: 10.2196/32663.