Understanding the psychological experience and perspective of frontline healthcare workers and psychological first aid providers during the covid-19 pandemic: A qualitative study / Hemavathi Shanmugam

Hemavathi, Shanmugam (2021) Understanding the psychological experience and perspective of frontline healthcare workers and psychological first aid providers during the covid-19 pandemic: A qualitative study / Hemavathi Shanmugam. Masters thesis, Universiti Malaya.

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Abstract

Background: The growing number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases since December 2019 has led to burnout and psychological distress among the frontline healthcare workers (HCWs). In Malaysia, remote Psychological First Aid (PFA) via teleconsultation was launched to ameliorate the mental health distress among HCWs. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to understand the psychological experience and perspective of frontline HCWs and PFA providers as a guide in improvising the delivery of the remote PFA service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: A descriptive qualitative research design based on semi-structured individual in-depth interviews were conducted with a total of 30 participants from the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), Malaysia consisting of 20 frontline HCWs and 10 PFA providers. The study assessed frontline HCW’s experience in handling their duties, the psychological stress they experienced, their coping strategies as well as their understanding regarding psychological first aid services. As for the PFA providers, we assessed their experience in administrating PFA, the challenges they encountered and their strategies to improve the PFA service. Transcripts were analyzed using Colaizzi's phenomenological analysis method. Results: Three themes emerged from the data analysis of frontline HCWs, where they reported negative emotions in the early stages such as fear, uncertainty, fatigue, and vi sadness followed by adaptations of healthy coping strategies. However, frontline HCWs lacked awareness and showed apprehension to PFA service. As for PFA providers, the three themes recorded were challenges associated with remote PFA, administrative difficulties due to lack of PFA guidelines and the need for modification of the existing PFA services. Conclusion: Our study suggests that frontline HCWs would benefit from early psychological assessment and that existing PFA needs to be improvised with follow-up psychosocial interventions due to the ongoing nature of the pandemic.

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