From nuisance to helpful assistants: A qualitative thematic analysis of medical volunteers' experiences during the COVID-19 outbreak in Iran

Background & Aim: Volunteers' perceptions may affect their future decisions to participate in crisis intervention. Few studies in Iran have been conducted to examine the experiences of medical personnel who volunteered during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative study describes the experiences of medical volunteers during COVID-19 in Iran. Methods & Materials: A total 17 healthcare volunteers who worked in COVID-19 hospital wards were recruited using purposive sampling. All participants were recruited in the current study from the hospitals affiliated with the Tehran University of Medical Sciences if they expressed their willingness to participate and had at least two months experience of working as healthcare volunteers in COVID-19 wads. In-depth video-call semi-structured interviews were conducted from August to November 2020. The data were analyzed using the qualitative thematic analysis method. Results: One main theme "from nuisance to helpful assistants” and four sub-themes including the "feeling of inefficiency”, "negligent managing”, "situation orientation”, and "transformation for integrity” emerged from the data. Conclusion: Despite experiencing challenges, the volunteers and hospital staff tried to change their approaches to joint collaboration by improving their capabilities for situation awareness and creating integrity. These findings provide policymakers with a better understanding of health volunteers' challenges in hospitals during crises. © 2023 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Published by Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

Informational and supportive needs of the family caregivers of women with breast cancer in a low resource context: A cross-sectional study

Introduction: The present study was conducted to assess the needs of family caregivers in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants and methods: Data were collected through purposive sampling from 103 participants and analysed by the Family Inventory of Needs (FIN) during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 (between July and September). Results: Informational and supportive needs were high for most caregivers (76%), but they were scored unmet by higher than 30% of the family caregivers in items 8, 9, and 16 of informative dimensions and items 15, 17, and 18 supportive dimensions. Also, the illness stage was significantly associated with the score of unmet needs (p = 0.03). Conclusions: Caregivers who live with women need more guidance and support. Considering the information and psycho-social needs of cancer caregivers may increase the satisfaction of health services and help improve the psychological well-being and quality of life of both patients and their caregivers.