A Single-Day Training for Managers Reduces Cognitive Stigma Regarding Mental Health Problems: A Randomized Trial.

BACKGROUND: Mental illnesses have received increasing attention in the work context in recent years, yet they are still often accompanied by stigma. One starting point for stigma reduction is interventions in the workplace. The present study evaluated a one-day workshop for managers in a large company. METHOD: Enrolled managers (n = 70) were randomly assigned to the intervention group and the waiting control group. The training included a theoretical section on mental and stress-related diseases as well as the interplay between work and health, group work on personal stress experience, theoretical input on dealing with mentally ill employees, and a group discussion on this topic along with case studies. Both groups completed the following questionnaires at baseline and three months after training: Effort-Reward Imbalance Questionnaire, Patient Health Questionnaire, Mental Health Knowledge Schedule, Social Distance Scale, and the Irritation Scale. RESULTS: Compared to the waiting group, the intervention group showed a significant improvement in the Mental Health Knowledge Schedule (U = 417.00, p = 0.040) and an increase in the Irritation Scale (U = 371.50 p = 0.011). All other scales remained unchanged. CONCLUSION: The content and duration of the training were adequate to reduce cognitive stigma towards mental illness. However, the present approach was not sufficient for an improvement in the subjective stress level of the participating managers.

Psychosocial Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthcare Workers and Initial Areas of Action for Intervention and Prevention-The egePan/VOICE Study.

INTRODUCTION: Epidemics lead to an increase in occupational stress and psychological strain among healthcare workers. However, the impact of a pandemic outbreak on healthcare systems is yet to be clearly defined. Therefore, this work aims to describe and analyze specific areas of workload among different groups of healthcare workers during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A sample of N = 8088 persons working in the German-speaking healthcare sector participated in the VOICE/egePan online survey, which addressed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic during the second quarter of 2020. We used 15 self-constructed items, based on the work of Matsuishi et al. (2012), to identify potential COVID-19-specific topics. RESULTS: N = 7542 records of healthcare workers were analyzed. Of these, 60.80% reported, retrospectively, an increase in stress since the outbreak of the pandemic. Problem areas tended to be indicated more frequently by the women surveyed than by the men. Nurses, paramedics and medical technicians reported the highest fear of infecting others while physicians reported the highest fear of physical or mental exhaustion. With respect to age, older respondents indicated less fear and felt more protected. Men and people living alone were more likely to use dysfunctional coping strategies. Migrants reported a higher fear of becoming infected or infecting others as well as they reported about increased levels of smoking. DISCUSSION: Retrospectively, the COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in stress among healthcare workers. Problem areas have different focuses with regard to different living situations, environmental conditions and professions. In order to lay the best basis for healthy and efficient work, it seems necessary to take measures especially tailored to the needs of different groups of healthcare workers.

Capsulotomy for treatment of compartment syndrome in patients with post extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy renal hematomas: safe and effective, but also advisable?

PURPOSE: To examine whether surgical decompression of hematomas by capsulotomy can help to improve long-term renal function following extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (SWL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study retrospectively identified 7 patients who underwent capsulotomy for post SWL renal hematomas between 2008 and 2012. The control group comprised 8 conservatively treated patients. The median follow-up time was 22 months. RESULTS: The two groups were comparable in age, gender, body mass index, risk factors for developing hematomas (renal failure, urinary flow impairment, indwelling ureteral stent and diabetes mellitus) and the selected SWL modalities. Hematoma size was also similar. However, significantly more patients in the surgical group had purely intracapsular hematomas (85.7% vs. 37.5%) without a potentially pressure-relieving capsular rupture. There were no significant differences in the post-interventional drop in hemoglobin, rise in retention parameters or drop in glomerular filtration rate (GFR). No capsulotomy-related complications were observed, but surgery required a significantly longer hospital stay than conservative management (median, 9 days vs. 5 days). The two groups also showed comparable recovery of renal function at long-term follow-up (median change in GFR from baseline, 97.1% and 97.8%, respectively). CONCLUSION: Since renal function did not differ between the two treatment groups, the conservative management remains the standard treatment for post-SWL renal hematoma.