PSYCHO-SOCIAL CONCERNS OF HEALTH CARE PERSONNEL IN A COVID-19 FACILITY

Yogesh Yadav, Pradnya Jadhav*, Aniruddha Malgaonkar and Sundaram Kartikeyan

ABSTRACT

This descriptive study was conducted on 169 health care personnel (females: 86, 50.89%; males: 83, 49.11%) working in a COVID-19 facility in Maharashtra state, India, to determine the psycho-social concerns of health care personnel in a COVID-19 facility. After explaining the purpose of the study, informed consent was obtained and a pre-tested and pre-validated questionnaire was used for interviewing the participants. The mean age of female and male health care personnel was 35.83 +/- 9.77 years and 31.94 +/- 7.41 years, respectively. A significantly higher proportion (p=0.0009) of female respondents expressed unhappiness due to public attitudes and believed that the COVID duty was stigmatized (p=0.002). Respondents stated that it was risky to reveal one’s COVID status to others and that their children also faced social stigma. Health care personnel on epidemic duty are at high risk of developing mental health problems that can have profound and long-term consequences. Pre-deployment psychological screening of frontline health care personnel can help identify those with pre-existing adverse mental health conditions and can possibly forestall unsatisfactory patient care and risk of medical errors. Shortened duty hours, in-house rest and recreation facilities and shift rotation will help alleviate the working conditions of health care personnel.

Keywords: COVID-19, Health care personnel, Psycho-social concerns.