ABSTRACT
Background/aims: Palliative care professionals (PCP) work in an environment of great emotional impact where patients and caregivers present high levels of emotional distress and suffering. Working in these units frequently involves high levels of emotional distress. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified this emotional distress. The aim of this work was to analyze the levels of emotional distress of palliative care health professionals during the second wave of the pandemic in Spain. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study of palliative care health professionals who responded to an online survey during the second COVID-19 pandemic in Spain (July 2020). 95 palliative care professionals (58 women and 37 men) with a mean age of 45.72 ± 11.71 years responded to an online survey voluntarily, after giving informed consent. In addition to sociodemographic variables, anxiety, depression, emotional distress, post-traumatic stress, and questions related to the COVID-19 situation and the institution were analyzed. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Results: 53.7% of the health professionals reported anxiety, 46.7% depression, 54.5% emotional distress, and 28% post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A 26.5% of the professionals think that they require psychological help. 32.8% believe that they feel recognized by their institution, and 28.7% feel cared for by their institution. We observe that the professionals who feel recognized by their institutions experience less emotional distress (p<0.01) and believe they need less psychological support (p<0.05) than those who do not perceive it. Conclusions: A high emotional impact generated by the COVID-19 pandemic is observed in PC professionals. It would be necessary to provide psychological resources related to emotional regulation and coping strategies to deal with this situation of high emotional impact generated by the pandemic and promote their well-being and facilitate coping of future pandemics.
ABSTRACT
The objective of this study is to make a quick assessment of the psychological resources and emotional distress of the general population locked down during the COVID-19 pandemic (in Catalonia, Spain), and to observe their evolution over the course of two waves during lockdown: at two weeks and at one month (April 1th to 3th and April 17th to 19th). The longitudinal study collected data from 29,231 participants aged 18 or older through an online platform who answered questions which evaluated: optimism, uncertainty, perceived competence, self-efficacy, emotional distress, current job situation, sadness and anger in conjunction with sociodemographic variables. The main results indicated that general beliefs about the future, uncertainty, and optimism, together with beliefs about one's own conduct, such as perceived competence when facing the situation or self-efficacy to maintain routines, could predict the emotional distress experienced by an individual. A clear gender pattern was found. Between the two waves, optimism, perceived competence to manage the situation and self-efficacy to maintain routines decrease, uncertainty grows, and emotional distress remains. Taking these results into account we can prevent possible emotional scars and offer coping strategies to overcome the pandemic and the future situations of confinement in a more efficient way.