Significance of organizational health features during the COVID-19 pandemic for the well-being of Lithuanian healthcare workers.

Summary: During various emergencies, especially pandemics, there is a heavy burden on healthcare workers and pharmacists. Organizational support plays a significant role in protecting their mental health. Though the study aimed analyze the subjectively perceived difficulties and challenges of healthcare workers related to organizing work in the context of a pandemic. Methods: Twenty seven subjects (20 women, 7 men) participated in the qualitative research 30-45 min. Duration semi-structured interviews were performed, and thematic data analysis was applied. Results: During the first wave of the COVD-19 pandemic, research participants experienced an avalanche of change in all significant areas of life: experienced general overall uncertainty, confusion in working order, and intense changes in work functions, responsibilities, and workload. These changes reduced the scope for control and predictability, there was a lack of structure and clarity. The avalanche of change caused by the COVID-19 pandemic provoked a strong and controversial emotional response. The contradiction was revealed between helplessness, disruption, loss of control experienced by staff and the internal and external pressure to adapt as quickly as possible to the functions of caregivers. The threats posed by the pandemic reinforced the need for active and engaged leadership and highlighted the key features of an employee supporting organization. Conclusion: Surviving the avalanche of change caused by the pandemic, healthcare workers and pharmacists emphasized the importance of management decisions about managing patient and employee health threats, clear work organization, active and inclusive leadership, change planning, and organizational concern for employee sustainability and emotional well-being. Regular, systematic, clear and understandable, timely, open and sincere, uncontroversial, and consistent communication of administration provides security for employees and can contribute to better physical and psychological well-being of employees.

Effectiveness of the ELLA Training for the Promotion of Emotional and Social Competences in Lithuanian Preschool Children.

By developing the emotional and social competences of children of preschool age, one can expect the prevention of emotional and behavioral problems and a better social and academic adaptation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the ELLA training for the promotion of emotional and social competences in 3-6-year-old children in preschool education institutions in Lithuania. In total, 140 children aged 3-6 years participated in the quasi-experimental study, of which 86 children were assigned to the experimental group and 54 were assigned to the control group. Children of the experimental group were given a modified program-the ELLA training for the promotion of emotional and social competences. Children's emotional and social competences were assessed before and after the program. The EMK 3-6 inventory (germ. Inventar zur Erfassung Emotionaler Kompetenzen bei Drei-bis Sechsjährigen, EMK 3-6) was used to conduct a questionnaire survey of teachers and to carry out an individual assessment performed by psychologists in order to assess the children's competences. The ELLA training significantly improved children's emotional and social competences. Based on the teachers' assessment, the children's self-regulation abilities improved, and based on the children's individual assessment conducted by psychologists, the application of the program resulted in the improvement of the children's primary emotions, secondary emotions, and prosocial behavior competences.

Wellbeing and Stress Coping among Healthcare and Pharmacy Workers: Experiences during the First COVID-19 Lockdown in Lithuania.

(1) Background. During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals faced psychological and social challenges in addition to a sharp increase in workload. The aim of this work was to reveal how healthcare and pharmacy workers assessed their wellbeing and the methods of coping they employed to overcome stress during quarantine. (2) Methods. The mixed-method study was conducted between August and October 2020, integrating quantitative (n = 967) and qualitative (n = 27) strategies. Doctors, nurses, healthcare administrative staff, pharmacy specialists, and other employees of the healthcare system were interviewed retrospectively about their experiences during and following lockdown (March-June 2020). (3) Results. Overall, 38.7% of the respondents reported a decrease in psychological wellbeing, while 23.4% of the respondents reported a decrease in physical wellbeing during quarantine. The healthcare professionals' narratives identified a shift from nonspecific fears at the beginning of the pandemic to the more concrete fear of contracting COVID-19, of infecting others, and about their loved ones, as well as undifferentiated fear. Multivariate analysis revealed that a subjective decrease in wellbeing was typical in professionals who had had direct contact with patients infected with COVID-19, as well as those with stronger fears, and those who were more likely to employ compulsive distancing and substance use as ways to cope with stress. (3) Conclusions. The results suggest that lockdown had a negative impact on healthcare workers' wellbeing during the first pandemic wave in 2020.

How Does the Assessment of Work Organization during the COVID-19 Pandemic Relate to Changes in the Well-Being of Health System Workers?

In the case of various emergencies, especially pandemics, healthcare workers are faced with disproportionate pressures. Organizational support plays a significant role in protecting the psychological and physical health of healthcare workers. This interdisciplinary research aims to determine how changes in the physical and psychological well-being of healthcare and pharmacy workers during the first wave of the COVID-19 lockdown are related to work organization factors that support safety and stability. A quantitative research strategy was applied in the research. Data from an electronic survey assessed the changes in the physical and psychological well-being of healthcare and pharmacy workers during the lockdown period and the organizational factors supporting safety and stability. The sample of the quantitative research consisted of 967 employees of healthcare institutions and pharmacies in Lithuania. This research broadens the concept of organizational factors and provides data on their interaction with the changes of employee well-being indicators in a pandemic situation. It was found that positive changes in the evaluation of physical as well as psychological well-being during the COVID-19 lockdown could be consistently predicted by all the analyzed safety and stability supporting organizational factors that were found to be associated with subjective physical well-being and psychological well-being even when adjusting for the effect of socio-demographic factors (gender, age, work field, and specialty). The identification and proper management of organizational factors was significant for the psychological and physical well-being of healthcare workers during the lockdown period. It was found that all estimates of safety and stability supporting organizational factors during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown were positively related and could act as protective factors to the subjective physical and psychological well-being of healthcare and pharmacy workers.

Health-related physical fitness among schoolchildren in Lithuania: a comparison from 1992 to 2002.

AIM: Socioeconomic transformation over the previous decade may have created a less active lifestyle and a decline in fitness among Lithuanian children. The aim of this study was to analyse the differences in health-related fitness among 12-, 14-, and 16-year-old Lithuanian boys and girls from 1992 to 2002. METHODS: The height and weight of the children were measured, and the Eurofit test battery was used to analyse the children's fitness. For the analyses of differences, 2,009 children aged 12 (n = 697), 14 (n = 733), and 16 (n = 579) years were tested. RESULTS: Boys and girls of all three age groups performed better in the sit and reach test (12.4-19.8%, p<0.001) and in the 20 m shuttle run test (30.0-46.0%, p<0.001) but did fewer sit-ups (3.5-7.3%, p<0.05) in 1992 compared with the results in 2002. The girls' performance was better in the long broad jump test (4.9-5.5%, p<0.001) in 1992 than in 2002. These differences were not significantly influenced by weight, body mass index (BMI), and "height+BMI". CONCLUSIONS: There was a marked decrease in aerobic fitness and flexibility and a slight increase in abdominal muscle endurance among Lithuanian schoolchildren. Leg muscular power decreased slightly in girls but remained unchanged in boys. A decrease in daily physical activity is the most likely contributing factor to the decrease in aerobic fitness and flexibility and PE reform has not been able to compensate for this effect.