TY - JOUR
T1 - NHS CHECK
T2 - Protocol for a cohort study investigating the psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers
AU - Lamb, Danielle
AU - Greenberg, Neil
AU - Hotopf, Matthew
AU - Raine, Rosalind
AU - Razavi, Reza
AU - Bhundia, Rupa
AU - Scott, Hannah
AU - Carr, Ewan
AU - Gafoor, Rafael
AU - Bakolis, Ioannis
AU - Hegarty, Siobhan
AU - Souliou, Emilia
AU - Rafferty, Anne Marie
AU - Rhead, Rebecca
AU - Weston, Danny
AU - Gnangapragasam, Sam
AU - Marlow, Sally
AU - Wessely, Simon
AU - Stevelink, Sharon
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2021/6/30
Y1 - 2021/6/30
N2 - Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound effects on the working lives of healthcare workers (HCWs), but the extent to which their well-being and mental health have been affected remains unclear. This longitudinal cohort study aims to recruit a cohort of National Health Service (NHS) HCWs, conducting surveys at regular intervals to provide evidence about the prevalence of symptoms of mental disorders, and investigate associated factors such as occupational contexts and support interventions available. Methods and analysis All staff, students and volunteers working in the 18 participating NHS Trusts in England will be sent emails inviting them to complete a survey at baseline, with email invitations for the follow-up surveys sent 6 months and 12 months later. Opening in late April 2020, the baseline survey collects data on demographics, occupational/organisational factors, experiences of COVID-19, validated measures of symptoms of poor mental health (eg, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder), and constructs such as resilience and moral injury. These surveys will be complemented by in-depth psychiatric interviews with a sample of HCWs. Qualitative interviews will also be conducted, to gain deeper understanding of the support programmes used or desired by staff, and facilitators and barriers to accessing such programmes. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval for the study was granted by the Health Research Authority (reference: 20/HRA/210, IRAS: 282686) and local Trust Research and Development approval. Cohort data are collected via Qualtrics online survey software, pseudonymised and held on secure university servers. Participants are aware that they can withdraw from the study at any time, and there is signposting to support services if participants feel they need it. Only those consenting to be contacted about further research will be invited to participate in further components. Findings will be rapidly shared with NHS Trusts, and via academic publications in due course.
AB - Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound effects on the working lives of healthcare workers (HCWs), but the extent to which their well-being and mental health have been affected remains unclear. This longitudinal cohort study aims to recruit a cohort of National Health Service (NHS) HCWs, conducting surveys at regular intervals to provide evidence about the prevalence of symptoms of mental disorders, and investigate associated factors such as occupational contexts and support interventions available. Methods and analysis All staff, students and volunteers working in the 18 participating NHS Trusts in England will be sent emails inviting them to complete a survey at baseline, with email invitations for the follow-up surveys sent 6 months and 12 months later. Opening in late April 2020, the baseline survey collects data on demographics, occupational/organisational factors, experiences of COVID-19, validated measures of symptoms of poor mental health (eg, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder), and constructs such as resilience and moral injury. These surveys will be complemented by in-depth psychiatric interviews with a sample of HCWs. Qualitative interviews will also be conducted, to gain deeper understanding of the support programmes used or desired by staff, and facilitators and barriers to accessing such programmes. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval for the study was granted by the Health Research Authority (reference: 20/HRA/210, IRAS: 282686) and local Trust Research and Development approval. Cohort data are collected via Qualtrics online survey software, pseudonymised and held on secure university servers. Participants are aware that they can withdraw from the study at any time, and there is signposting to support services if participants feel they need it. Only those consenting to be contacted about further research will be invited to participate in further components. Findings will be rapidly shared with NHS Trusts, and via academic publications in due course.
KW - COVID-19
KW - mental health
KW - occupational & industrial medicine
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85110079056
U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051687
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051687
M3 - Article
C2 - 34193505
AN - SCOPUS:85110079056
SN - 2044-6055
VL - 11
JO - BMJ Open
JF - BMJ Open
IS - 6
M1 - e051687
ER -
