Organizational Support Experiences of Care Home and Home Care Staff in Sweden, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Healthcare

Andrea Kenkmann¹  Oliver Fisher²  Connie Lethin³  Agneta Malmgren Fänge³  Jonas Christensen⁴  Tamara Backhouse⁵  Anne Killett⁵  Carlos Chiatti⁶ 

[1] Center for Aging, Katholische Stiftungshochschule, 81667 München, Germany;Centre for Socio-Economic Research on Ageing, IRCCS INRCA-National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing, 60124 Ancona, Italy;Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden;Department of Social work, Faculty of Health and Society, Malmö University, 21119 Malmö, Sweden;School of Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK;Tech4Care srl, 60015 Falconara Marittima, Italy;

关键词: COVID-19;    care home;    home care;    organizational support;    staff experience;    survey;   

DOI  :  10.3390/healthcare9060767

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected care workers all over the globe, as older and more vulnerable people face a high risk of developing severe symptoms and dying from the virus infection. The aim of this study was to compare staff experiences of stress and anxiety as well as internal and external organizational support in Sweden, Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom (UK) in order to determine how care staff were affected by the pandemic. A 29-item online questionnaire was used to collect data from care staff respondents: management (n = 136), nurses (n = 132), nursing assistants (n = 195), and other healthcare staff working in these organizations (n = 132). Stress and anxiety levels were highest in the UK and Germany, with Swedish staff showing the least stress. Internal and external support only partially explain the outcomes. Striking discrepancies between different staff groups’ assessment of organizational support as well as a lack of staff voice in the UK and Germany could be key factors in understanding staff’s stress levels during the pandemic. Structural, political, cultural, and economic factors play a significant role, not only factors within the care organization or in the immediate context.

【 授权许可】

Unknown