A Cross-Sectional Study of Caregivers and Service Providers Adapting to COVID-19 in a Canadian Brain Injury Service Organization

ABSTRACT

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a disproportionate disruption to the delivery of in-person services in a multitude of essential and non-essential health service organizations. Management teams have had to seek alternative methods for effective service delivery while meeting appropriate safety precautions. COVID-19 mediated work changes have sparked an increasing concern about allied health worker's well-being and health in the work environment. Vista Centre Brain Injury Services (VCBIS), a Canadian organization committed to providing services to individuals with acquired brain injury, has modified in-person services and transitioned to remote work in response to the pandemic. This study aims to investigate and compare the impact of the pandemic among VCBIS workers. We surveyed individual staff members to assess their physical, psychological and social well-being in their work environment. Additionally, we investigated the staff's perspective on current management strategies and pandemic prospects. Methods: Between March 16th, 2021 and April 2nd, 2021, staff members were surveyed on changes in service due to COVID- 19 and its effect on workflow and well-being. In total, there were ninety-two questions containing a mixture of binary and linear numeric response formats. Fifty-seven questions asked staff members to reflect on their experience since the onset of the pandemic (?Retrospective component?) and thirty-five questions asked about thoughts and feelings about the future of the pandemic as it relates to their employment (?Prospective component?). For descriptive statistics, numeric variables are presented as means with standard deviations and categorical variables are presented with frequencies and percentages. We tested for the differences in responses between genders, age groups, employment status, and program involvement using a student's t-test, or single factor Anova and Tukey-kramer test post hoc. Results: Twenty-five staff members responded to the survey during the response period (32% female, 68% male). Most reported their age in the 30-39 range (28%), followed by the 60 or older, (24%), 18-29 (16%), 40-49 (16%) and 50-59 (16%) age ranges. Statistical analysis is in progress to elucidate significant differences across gender, age groups, employment status and program involvement. Conclusions: The results of this study have important implications for VCBIS service delivery, team management and funding distribution. Due to the long-lasting impact of the pandemic, it is important to consider these findings as VCBIS operates through the pandemic and transitions back to normal services. Preliminary results demonstrate that the COVID-19 pandemic service changes have impacted staff, suggesting the need for additional support and resources to improve staff work productivity, satisfaction and overall well-being. Given that many health organizations have had to readjust as a result of the pandemic, it is expected that staff outside VCBIS may share similar experiences.