Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35840983›Full record

ArticleHuman resources for health2022

"The emotions were like a roller-coaster": a qualitative analysis of e-diary data on healthcare worker resilience and adaptation during the COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore.

Alyssa Yenyi Chan, Celene Ting, Lai Gwen Chan, Zoe Jane-Lara Hildon

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Human resources for health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Defining Health Movements and Health Needs Across the Life Course: A Qualitative Study.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
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  8. Providing End-of-Life Care to COVID-19 Patients: The Lived Experiences of ICU Nurses in the Philippines.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Alyssa Yenyi Chan *Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University Health System, National University of Singapore, Tahir Foundation Building, 12 Science Drive 2, Level 09-03J, Singapore, S117549, Singapore.ORCID 0000-0003-1138-5279
Celene Ting *Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University Health System, National University of Singapore, Tahir Foundation Building, 12 Science Drive 2, Level 09-03J, Singapore, S117549, Singapore.
Lai Gwen ChanDepartment of Psychiatry, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, Singapore, S308433, Singapore.
Zoe Jane-Lara HildonSaw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University Health System, National University of Singapore, Tahir Foundation Building, 12 Science Drive 2, Level 09-03J, Singapore, S117549, Singapore. Zhildon@nus.edu.sg.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundUncertainties related to COVID-19 have strained the mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs) worldwide. Gaining the ability to adapt and thrive under pressure will be key to addressing this. We explore what characterises risk, vulnerability and resilient responses of HCWs during the early stages of the outbreak in Singapore.

methodsWe undertook qualitative theory-guided thematic analysis of e-diary entries from HCWs who navigated the outbreak from June-August 2020. Data were extracted from a subset of an online survey of n = 3616 participants collected across 9 institutions, including restructured hospitals, hospices and affiliated primary care partners.

resultsN = 663 or 18% submitted qualitative journal entries included for analyses. All professional cadres, local as well as foreign HCWs participated. Themes are reported according to the Loads-Levers-Lifts model of resilience and highlighted in italics. The model assumes that resilience is a dynamic process. Key factors threatening mental health (loading) risk included a notable rise in anxiety, the effects of being separated from loved ones, and experiencing heightened emotions and emotional overload. Bad situations were made worse, prompting vulnerable outcomes when HCWs experienced stigma in the community and effects of "public paranoia"; or under conditions where HCWs ended up feeling like a prisoner with little control or choice when either confined to staff accommodation or placed on quarantine/Stay Home Notices. Those with strife in their place of residence also described already difficult situations at work being aggravated by home life. Protection (lifts) came from being able to muster a sense of optimism about the future or feeling grateful for the pace of life slowing down and having the space to reprioritise. In contrast, when risk factors were present, balancing these in the direction of resilient outcomes was achieved by choosing to re-direct stress into positive narratives, drawing on inner agency, uptake of therapeutic activities, social support as well as faith and prayer and drawing comfort from religious community among other factors.

conclusionThe Loads-Levers-Lifts model is used to guide analysis to inform intervention designs. Levers promoting resilience through targeting therapies, workplace policies and awareness campaigns accounting for identified loads are proposed.

Indexed as

COVID-19AnxietyDisease OutbreaksHealth PersonnelHumansSingaporeCOVID-19Healthcare worker mental healthResilienceTheory-based intervention design

Identifiers

PMID35840983
PMCPMC9285872

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.