Two McMaster University researchers working on projects addressing pandemic-associated post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among health care workers have received more than $ 4.5 million in Canadian federal funding.
Projects include a website with evidence-based resources and a smartphone app that encourages early intervention and peer support. Altogether, the projects are expected to reach more than 100,000 health workers across Canada.
Moral discomfort
“We began studying the mental health and well-being of Canadian health workers during the Delta variant wave and found that 1 in 4 approved PTSD-compatible symptoms,” said Margaret McKinnon, PhD, professor of psychiatry and neuroscience. behavior in McMaster. Medscape medical news. “With the advent of Omicron, we see that 1 in 2 are considering leaving their positions out of moral anguish.”
The team’s recent review of health care workers and public safety staff showed that moral distress was triggered by factors such as feeling helpless when caring for critically ill COVID patients, having to perform care that it was considered useless and to be on the side of COVID’s death. patients instead of their relatives, who were denied entry to the hospital due to COVID restrictions. Additional stressors include not having time to process events, rushing to change personal protective equipment, and a large number of patients.
The findings prompted the team to create a website called “Health Care Health. Thank you for your service.” This project received $ 2.96 million. “Through this platform, we want to thank health care workers for their sacrifices during the pandemic and also provide tools to help them recognize the symptoms of PTSD, depression and anxiety and validate their experiences,” McKinnon explained.
The website, which is slated to launch in the fall, will include personal stories; psychoeducation modules that address trauma, PTSD, and moral distress or injury; coping resources; and treatment options.
“Beyond Silence” application.
Federal funding also helps develop the McMaster Beyond Silence smartphone app, a project led by Sandra Moll, PhD, occupational therapist and associate professor at McMaster’s School of Rehabilitation Science. Moll and his team, which includes McKinnon, developed and were testing version 1.0 of the app “and then the success of the pandemic,” Moll told Medscape. “At the time, we made the app available for free to organizations that had no other form of support from health care workers.”
With an additional $ 1.56 million, the team is developing version 2.0, which incorporates the knowledge of the doctors who used the previous version. The new version will include links to resources on the Healthcare Salute website. “We are tasked with creating an informed trauma app and we are looking for improvements through this lens,” Moll explained. “It means things like making everything easy to access, offering options and privacy, and building trust and empowerment. If people are struggling, they need to get information quickly, they need to know what to do and they need validation. they need a button that says “Click here for help. These are some of the types of features we’re starting to incorporate.”
Peer support is a priority
A key component is the peer support feature of the application. “We don’t have an established culture around peer support for health care workers or an established training program, although the evidence proves to be beneficial,” said Moll, who will work with Homewood Health to create a capacity curriculum. peer support. “Organizations that use the app will receive this training for their peer support providers.”
To help validate users’ feelings, the app incorporates a chat bot that asks at the beginning of an interaction, “How are you today? What do you need? How can I help you?” When the user feels stressed, anxious, scared, or insecure, the bot conveys the message, “You’re not alone,” Moll said. “I was surprised that asking me about feelings for something on your phone was very helpful.”
The team will study the implementation of the job application in a variety of settings, such as small internships, large hospitals, long-term care communities and rural locations, Moll noted. “We will work with the organization’s champions to answer questions such as,“ Who is in charge? ‘How are they downloaded?’ ‘Do people use it only once or every day?’ We are very excited to try to understand these usage patterns, because we really don’t know. “
A 3-month implementation test is scheduled to begin on November 1. In the meantime, a brief overview of the app and some of the findings so far are available online.
System in danger
“In general, an app is just one piece of the puzzle,” Moll said. “There needs to be systemic change. There needs to be a large-scale rethinking and support for our healthcare workers.”
McKinnon added: “We are now in a dangerous situation with our healthcare system. Many hospitals operate unstaffed, healthcare workers leave the profession and the result can be suboptimal care. If we lose more of these workers, we will be in deep trouble. “.
Follow Marilynn Larkin on Twitter: @MarilynnL.
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