ArticleHealth promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice2022
Support for health care workers and psychological distress: thinking about now and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Perceived need and help-seeking for psychosocial support among health and social care professionals: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC health services research · 2025Pooled it
- Psychological and Physiological Assessment of Distress Among Public Healthcare Workers During Pandemic Control Efforts.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Factors Influencing Perceived Mental Health Service Needs, Self-reported Utilization, and Barriers to Care Among Health System Faculty and Staff.Journal of occupational and environmental medicine · 2026Article
- Differential associations of occupational stress dimensions with job burnout subscales among nurses.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Canadian healthcare workforce: a rapid evidence synthesis of key considerations, lessons learned, and promising practices to address the healthcare workforce crisis.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- Mental Health Outcomes and Occupational Stress Among Malaysian Frontline Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The drivers of mental health service utilisation among public primary healthcare workers in Negeri Sembilan.PloS one · 2025Article
- Psychological distress among healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic: patterns over time.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Anxiety and stress among Vietnamese health workers during the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant: a cross-sectional study.Journal of medicine and life · 2024Article
- Mental Health in Healthcare Workers Post-COVID-19: A Latin American Review and Insights into Personalized Management Strategies.Journal of personalized medicine · 2024Review
- Ten areas for ICU clinicians to be aware of to help retain nurses in the ICU.Critical care (London, England) · 2022Review
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Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThis study explores the relationship between emotional support, perceived risk and mental health outcomes among health care workers, who face high rates of burnout and mental distress since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsA cross-sectional, multicentred online survey of health care workers in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic evaluated coping strategies, confidence in infection control, impact of previous work during the 2003 SARS outbreak and emotional support. Mental health outcomes were assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale, the Impact of Event Scale - Revised and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).
resultsOf 3852 participants, 8.2% sought professional mental health services while 77.3% received emotional support from family, 74.0% from friends and 70.3% from colleagues. Those who felt unsupported in their work had higher odds ratios of experiencing moderate and severe symptoms of anxiety (odds ratio [OR] = 2.23; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.84-2.69), PTSD (OR = 1.88; 95% CI: 1.58-2.25) and depression (OR = 1.88; 95% CI: 1.57-2.25). Nearly 40% were afraid of telling family about the risks they were exposed to at work. Those who were able to share this information demonstrated lower risk of anxiety (OR = 0.58; 95% CI: 0.48-0.69), PTSD (OR = 0.48; 95% CI: 0.41-0.56) and depression (OR = 0.55; 95% CI: 0.47-0.65).
conclusionInformal sources of support, including family, friends and colleagues, play an important role in mitigating distress and should be encouraged and utilized more by health care workers.
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