ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Since the pandemic, more Canadians have reported poorer mental health. A vital group experiencing a high level of stressors consists of health care providers (HCPs) caring for COVID-19 patients, carrying out public health responses, or working with vulnerable populations. The mental health of HCPs is negatively affected by the pandemic, not only at work but also at home and in the community. Intersecting stressors at multiple levels contribute to HCPs' experiences of fatigue, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress symptoms. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the pandemic stressors experienced by HCPs at work, at home, and in the community before participating in the Pandemic Acceptance and Commitment to Empowerment Response (PACER) online intervention. METHODS: Informed by a social ecological approach, we used a qualitative reflective approach to engage 74 HCPs in diverse roles. Data were collected during the first 2 waves of the COVID-19 pandemic (June 2020 to February 2021) in Canada. RESULTS: Informed by a social ecological framework, 5 overarching themes were identified in our thematic analysis: (1) personal level stressors that highlight HCPs' identities and responsibilities beyond the workplace; (2) interpersonal level stressors from disrupted social relationships; (3) organizational stressors that contributed to unsettled workplaces and moral distress; (4) community and societal stressors attributed to vicarious trauma and emotional labor; and (5) the multilevel and cumulative impacts of COVID-19 stressors on HCPs' health. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 is not merely a communicable disease but also a social and political phenomenon that intensifies the effects of social inequities. Current understanding of pandemic stressors affecting HCPs is largely partial in nature. Although workplace stressors of HCPs are real and intense, they need to be explored and understood in the context of stressors that exist in other domains of HCPs' lives such as family and community to ensure these experiences are not being silenced by the "hero" discourses or overshadowed by professional demands.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: During a global pandemic, it is critical to rapidly deploy a psychological intervention to support the mental health and resilience of highly affected individuals and communities. OBJECTIVE: This is the rationale behind the development and implementation of the Pandemic Acceptance and Commitment to Empowerment Response (PACER) Training, an online, blended, skills building intervention to increase the resilience and well-being of participants while promoting their individual and collective empowerment and capacity building. METHODS: Based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and social justice-based group empowerment psychoeducation (GEP), we developed the Acceptance and Commitment to Empowerment (ACE) model to enhance psychological resilience and collective empowerment. The PACER program consists of 6 online, interactive, self-guided modules complemented by 6 weekly, 90-minute, videoconference, facilitator-led, group sessions. RESULTS: As of August 2021, a total of 325 participants had enrolled in the PACER program. Participants include frontline health care providers and Chinese-Canadian community members. CONCLUSIONS: The PACER program is an innovative intervention program with the potential for increasing resilience and empowerment while reducing mental distress during the pandemic. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/33495.