Silver linings: will the COVID-19 pandemic instigate long overdue mental health support services for healthcare workers?

Tim Stephens; Emily A Vail; Jo Billings

doi:10.1016/j.bja.2022.03.012

Silver linings: will the COVID-19 pandemic instigate long overdue mental health support services for healthcare workers?

Br J Anaesth. 2022 Jun;128(6):912-914. doi: 10.1016/j.bja.2022.03.012. Epub 2022 Mar 23.

Authors

Tim Stephens¹, Emily A Vail², Jo Billings³

Affiliations

¹ Critical Care and Perioperative Medicine Research Group, William Harvey Research Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK; Adult Critical Care Unit, The Royal London Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK. Electronic address: t.t.stephens@qmul.ac.uk.
² Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
³ Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK.

Abstract

A study in this month's journal adds to the growing body of evidence regarding the potential mental health impacts on frontline healthcare staff working during the COVID-19 pandemic. As clinical academics representing critical care, nursing, and medicine, and a psychologist guiding support for frontline health and social workers, we offer our perspectives on this study. We discuss the balance between pragmatic and rigorous data collection on this topic and offer perspectives on the observed differential impact on nurses. Finally, we suggest that the pandemic might have a positive effect by instigating more robust mental health support services for National Health Service workers.

Keywords: COVID-19; functional impairment; healthcare worker; intensive care; mental health; post-traumatic stress disorder.

Publication types

Editorial
Comment

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Health Personnel / psychology
Humans
Mental Health
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2
State Medicine