Exploring the Well-being of Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Protocol for a Prospective Longitudinal Study

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

doi:10.2196/32663

Exploring the Well-being of Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Protocol for a Prospective Longitudinal Study

JMIR Res Protoc. 2021 Sep 27;10(9):e32663. doi: 10.2196/32663.

Authors

Jenny J W Liu^{1

2}, Anthony Nazarov^{1

2}, Rachel A Plouffe^{1

2}, Callista A Forchuk¹, Erisa Deda¹, Dominic Gargala¹, Tri Le¹, Jesse Bourret-Gheysen¹, Vanessa Soares¹, Maede S Nouri¹, Fardous Hosseiny³, Patrick Smith³, Maya Roth⁴, Arlene G MacDougall², Michelle Marlborough^{2

4}, Rakesh Jetly⁵, Alexandra Heber⁶, Joy Albuquerque⁷, Ruth Lanius², Ken Balderson^{2

4}, Gabrielle Dupuis³, Viraj Mehta⁴, J Don Richardson^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ MacDonald Franklin Operational Stress Injury Research Centre, Lawson Health Research Institute, St. Joseph's Health Care London, London, ON, Canada.
² Department of Psychiatry, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
³ Centre of Excellence on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Related Mental Health Conditions, Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁴ St. Joseph's Operational Stress Injury Clinic, Greater Toronto Area, ON, Canada.
⁵ Canadian Armed Forces, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁶ Veterans Affairs Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁷ Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.

PMID: 34477557
PMCID: PMC8478052
DOI: 10.2196/32663

Abstract

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.

Keywords: COVID-19; challenge; design; distress; health care worker; impact; longitudinal; mental health; pandemic; perception; prospective; protocol; survey; wellbeing.

©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.