Intervention and Improved Well-Being of Basic Science Researchers During the COVID 19 Era: A Case Study

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Santosh Kumar¹  Sunitha Kodidela¹  Asit Kumar¹  Kelli Gerth¹  Kaining Zhi² 

[1] Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, United States;The Plough Center of Drug Delivery Solutions, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, United States

关键词: COVID-19;    productivity;    perceived stress score;    laboratory research;    well-being;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2020.574712

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected individuals of all categories, irrespective of their geographical locations, professions, gender, or race. As a result of full or partial lock-down and stay-at-home orders, the well-being and productivity of individuals were severely affected. Since basic science research requires laboratory experiments, the work-from-home strategy hurt their productivity. In addition, the combination of decreased productivity and staying at home is likely to compromise their well-being by causing stress and anxiety. In this case study, a strategy was developed to engage researchers through listening and learning, motivation, and empowerment, using regular virtual sessions. Through these virtual sessions, research work was prioritized and coordinated, from idea conception to writing research papers and grant proposals. Perceived stress scores (PSS) and COVID-19-related stress (COVID-SS) scores were measured to evaluate general and COVID-19-induced stress, respectively, every month from March to July 2020 during the COVID-19 era. The result showed a significant improvement in both the PSS and the COVID-SS scores of the intervention group compared to the control group. In addition, while there was no/minimal change in PSS and COVID-SS scores from March to subsequent months until July for the control group, the intervention groups showed significant and consistent improvement in both scores in the intervention group. Overall, the intervention strategy showed improved well-being for basic science researchers, which was also consistent with their improved productivity during the COVID-19 era.

【 授权许可】

CC BY