Maternity healthcare providers' self-perceptions of well-being during COVID-19: A survey in Tshwane Health District, South Africa

Background: Mental health manifestations such as depression and anxiety disorders became more marked during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as frontline healthcare workers struggled to maintain high-quality intrapartum care and essential health services. Aim: This study aimed to identify maternity healthcare providers' self-perceptions of changes in their feelings of mental well-being. Setting: Ten midwife obstetric units and the labour wards of four district hospitals in Tshwane Health District, South Africa. Methods: We conducted an anonymous, cross-sectional survey amongst a convenience sample of 114 maternity healthcare workers to gauge the changes in healthcare workers' experience and perceptions of well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Four items measured the perceived changes on a scale of 0­10 for the periods before and during COVID-19, respectively, namely feelings of fear or anxiety, stress, depression and anger. Results: The majority of participants were professional nurses (37%) and advanced midwives (47%). They reported a significant change in well-being from before the pandemic to during the pandemic with regard to all four items (p < 0.0001). The biggest 'before-during' difference was in perceptions of fear or anxiety and the smallest difference was in perceptions of anger. A framework was constructed from the open-ended responses to explain healthcare workers' understanding and perceptions of increased negative feelings regarding their mental well-being. Conclusion: The observed trends in the changes in healthcare workers' self-perceptions of their mental well-being highlight the need for further planning to build resilient frontline healthcare workers and provide them with ongoing mental health support and improved communication pathways.

Produtividade, pressão e humilhação no trabalho: os trabalhadores e as novas fábricas de calçados no Ceará / Productivity, pressure, and humiliation at workplace workersand new shoe factories in Ceará (Brazil)

O objetivo deste artigo é mostrar o modo como as práticas organizacionais e a cultura dos locais de trabalho podem levar a experiências de humilhação e a situações constrangedoras no trabalho. A discussão baseia-se em entrevistas realizadas no decorrer de 2007, com 20 trabalhadores de três fábricas de calçados localizadas no Ceará. A análise de conteúdo das entrevistas indicam que, apesar da humilhação e do constrangimento serem formas de violência conduzidas por indivíduos investidos de poder e autoridade na empresa, essas práticas transcendem as relações interpessoais e estão relacionadas às políticasde gestão organizacional centradas no estabelecimento de metas de produção a serem cumpridas pelos trabalhadores. As políticas determinam quanto e como produzir e, ao mesmo tempo, as relações interpessoais que se estabelecem dentro das fábricas.

The purpose of this paper is to show how organizational practices and workplace culture can lead to humiliating experiences and situations of harassment at work. The discussion is based on interviews conducted in 2007 involving 20 workers from three shoe industries located in Ceará (Brasil). The content analysis indicate that, although humiliation and harassment occur as individual acts of violence perpetrated by persons invested with power and authority in these industries, both transcend the limits of interpersonal relationships and are related to organizational management policies aiming at productivity goals.These policies determine how and how much should be produced at the same time that shape the interpersonal relations within factories.

A Comparative Study of Mental Health between the Laid-Off and the Employed Worker in the Similar Industry / 대한산업의학회지

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to examine the mental health status of the laid off by comparing the unemployed with the employed. METHODS: A survey questionnaire was used to investigate the mental health status of the laidoff in comparison with that of the employed. The study sample consisted of 247 laid-off people formerly employed in A auto factory and 167 employees working in B auto factory. RESULTS: The proportion exercising regularly was 20.2% for the laid-off and 34.8% for the employed and the proportion having regular meals was 10.9% and 50.6%, respectively. In addition, the frequency and amount of alcohol consumption and smoking of the laid-off were higher than those of the employed. Among the laid-off, 69.4% responded that they spent less time in talking to their spouse, and 65.4% also reported reduced sexual activities with their spouse. Because of unemployment, 41.8% of the laid-off experienced conflicts with their children, and 53.5% also perceived that they were stigmatized and treated badly by their neighbors, friends and relatives. Mean IFR in the laid-off was 22.9, which was much higher than the 15.3 recorded in the employed. The mean PWI-SF was 24.2 for the laid-off and 13.0 for the employed, which indicates the lower psychological health status of the laid-off than that of the employed. Age, annual salary, family relationship, regular exercise, regular diets, possibility to return to work and perception of the future were related to mental health status for the laid-off. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the most important factor influencing mental health status for the laid-off was family relationships. CONCLUSIONS: According to the above results, the mental health of the laid-off is worse than that of the employed. Based on this study, a follow-up study focusing on the mental health status of the reemployed to the same factory, is needed to understand the direct mental health effect on the laid-off.