Back to Search Start Over

The Community, the Workplace, and Public Health Measures: A Qualitative Study of Factors that Impacted the Wellbeing of Rural Health Service Staff in Victoria, Australia, during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Authors :
King, Olivia A.
Buccheri, Alison
Isaacs, Anton
Bishop, Jaclyn
Alston, Laura
Versace, Vincent L.
Wong Shee, Anna
Sourlos, Nick
Imran, Didir
Jacobs, Jane
Murphy, Fiona
Kennelly, Melissa
Field, Michael
Source :
Health & Social Care in the Community; 6/21/2023, p1-12, 12p, 2 Diagrams, 2 Charts
Publication Year :
2023

Abstract

Increasing evidence of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers' mental health and wellbeing has prompted concerns about the longer-term impacts on healthcare delivery and health workforce sustainability. For rural health services and communities, the pandemic has compounded existing challenges including workforce shortages, potentially leading to further health inequalities. This qualitative interview study aimed to explore factors within and external to the health service environment that influenced health service staff mental health and wellbeing in rural and regional Victoria, Australia, during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021). Participants were recruited from nine publicly funded rural and regional health services. Semistructured interviews were conducted via videoconference, audio-recorded, and transcribed. Data were analysed using a five-stage framework approach. Eighteen health service staff from four rural areas participated in the study. A range of factors that were perceived by participants to influence their wellbeing were identified. These were coded to four main themes: (1) rural community relations, (2) the nature of the health workplace, (3) self-care and supportive networks, and (4) public health measures and the unpredictable nature of the pandemic. Factors coded to these themes were described as both positive and negative influences on health staff mental health and wellbeing. Optimising the mental health and wellbeing of rural health staff is imperative to the sustainability of this workforce during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Rural health services must consider the community and health service (meso-level), individual (microlevel), and broader pandemic context (macrolevel) when developing and implementing strategies to promote staff wellbeing. Strategies must encompass the development of senior leadership capabilities, mechanisms to support effective leadership, and optimal communication processes within health services. Given the potential for community support to positively influence rural health staff wellbeing, community engagement should be a feature of health service wellbeing strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
09660410
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Health & Social Care in the Community
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
166735355
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/5556980