Enhancing frontline workforce volunteerism through exploration of motivations and impact during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: During a pandemic, healthcare workers are requested to volunteer for potentially high-risk frontline duties outside of usual hospital and primary care clinic settings in order to better serve vulnerable communities. Examination of volunteer motivations and impact of such experiences can drive more effective pandemic response efforts with regards to volunteer recruitment and retention. This study aims to explore the motivational factors underlying healthcare worker volunteerism in COVID-19 pandemic response operations in the community, and to describe the impact of such operations on volunteers, in order to highlight important volunteer recruitment strategies and ensure volunteer sustainability. METHODS: A qualitative phenomenological approach is taken in this study through the use of semi-structured individual interviews of healthcare staff, to provide in-depth exploration of personal experiences. Staff were purposefully sampled to ensure diversity of personal and professional backgrounds. RESULTS: A total of 35 staff, consisting of 17 males and 18 females from medical, nursing, allied health, and administrative backgrounds, who participated in COVID-19 community-based operations in migrant worker dormitories and swab isolation facilities were interviewed. The main motivational factors were volunteer functions of values, understanding and enhancement. Participants were positively impacted on personal and professional levels, including self-growth, societal awareness, as well as skills development in leadership and team management. CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare organizations should consider volunteer functions in matching individual motivations to volunteer opportunities. Additionally, personal narratives and role-modelling by senior staff can serve as useful adjunct strategies to volunteer recruitment, while providing pre-pandemic preparedness, reassurance of safety, support, and recognition.

The Next Pandemic: Supporting COVID-19 Frontline Doctors Through Film Discussion.

This paper describes an innovative just-in-time health humanities programme to educate and provide support to COVID-19 frontline doctors-in-training. The programme incorporates small-group screening of the Netflix documentary, The Next Pandemic from the Explained series, followed by a one-hour facilitated discussion to explore themes surrounding the current pandemic and its impact on frontline doctors in a tertiary paediatric hospital in Singapore. Themes derived from the film included preparedness, blame, and the impact on healthcare workers and public, which were further discussed to include concerns regarding current local readiness levels given global connectivity, the need for international cooperation, and the effects of blame such as racism and prejudice. The association with culture; the current impact on healthcare workers, physician-patient relationships, and the public including the role of social media, the government and associated public reactions were also explored. These rich discussions demonstrate the pivotal role health humanities has in times of uncertainty such as an emerging infectious disease outbreak by providing timely pandemic education and supporting reflective learning.

A novel constellation of cardiac findings for Kabuki syndrome: hypoplastic left heart syndrome and partial anomalous pulmonary venous drainage.

This report describes the case of a child with Kabuki syndrome, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, and right-sided partial anomalous pulmonary venous drainage to the inferior vena cava. The child underwent successful Norwood and Glenn palliative procedures. At the age of 9 months, the genetic condition was recognized. This represents the first report describing this combination of findings for Kabuki syndrome.

Pseudoarthrosis of the clavicle and copper beaten skull associated with chromosome 10p11.21p12.1 microdeletion.

Congenital pseudoarthrosis of the clavicle (CPC) has been described in several genetic conditions including Floating-Harbor and Goltz syndromes, but rarely as a prompt to specific cytogenetic abnormalities. We report on a case of a de novo 10p11.21p12.1 microdeletion in a boy with multiple problems including a beaten copper appearance of the cranium on skull X-ray and pseudoarthrosis of the right clavicle. This is the first description of these particular skeletal findings in the context of a chromosome 10p deletion.

Clinical and genetic spectrum of pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency: dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase (E2) deficiency.

Pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency is a major cause of primary lactic acidosis and neurological dysfunction in infancy and early childhood. Most cases are caused by mutations in the X-linked gene for the E1alpha subunit of the complex. Mutations in DLAT, the gene encoding dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase, the E2 core component of the complex, have not been described previously. We report two unrelated patients with pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency caused by defects in the E2 subunit. Both patients are less severely affected than typical patients with E1alpha mutations and both have survived well into childhood. Episodic dystonia was the major neurological manifestation, with other more common features of pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency, such as hypotonia and ataxia, being less prominent. The patients had neuroradiological evidence of discrete lesions restricted to the globus pallidus, and both are homozygous for different mutations in the DLAT gene. The clinical presentation and neuroradiological findings are not typical of pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency and extend the clinical and mutational spectrum of this condition.