Psychological Impacts of COVID-19 on Healthcare Trainees and Perceptions towards a Digital Wellbeing Support Package

Holly Blake, Ikra Mahmood, Gonxhe Dushi, Mehmet Yildirim and Elizabeth Gay
Additional contact information
Holly Blake: School of Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NH7 2HA, UK
Ikra Mahmood: School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK
Gonxhe Dushi: School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK
Mehmet Yildirim: School of Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NH7 2HA, UK
Elizabeth Gay: School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2UH, UK

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 20, 1-25

Abstract: We explore the impact of COVID-19 on the psychological wellbeing of healthcare trainees, and the perceived value of a digital support package to mitigate the psychological impacts of the pandemic (PoWerS Study). This mixed–methods study includes (i) exposure to a digital support package; (ii) participant survey to assess wellbeing, perceptions of work and intervention fidelity; (iii) semi–structured qualitative interviews. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed, data were handled and analysed using principles of thematic framework analysis. Participants are 42 health and medical trainees (9M, 33F) from 13 higher education institutions in the UK, studying during the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey findings showed high satisfaction with healthcare training (92.8%), but low wellbeing (61.9%), moderate to high perceived stressfulness of training (83.3%), and high presenteeism (50%). Qualitative interviews generated 3 over–arching themes, and 11 sub–themes. The pandemic has impacted negatively on emotional wellbeing of trainees, yet mental health is not well promoted in some disciplines, and provision of pastoral support is variable. Disruption to academic studies and placements has reduced perceived preparedness for future clinical practice. Regular check–ins, and wellbeing interventions will be essential to support the next generation health and care workforce, both in higher education and clinical settings. The digital support package was perceived to be accessible, comprehensive, and relevant to healthcare trainees, with high intervention fidelity. It is a useful tool to augment longer–term provision of psychological support for healthcare trainees, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: COVID?19; pandemic; psychological wellbeing; digital; healthcare; students (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/20/10647/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/20/10647/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:20:p:10647-:d:653788

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().