Evidence for your Practice: Learning from Adversity

Learning from adversity: Occupational therapy staff experiences of coping during Covid-19

Article: Ingham, L., Jackson, E., & Purcell, C. (2022). Learning from adversity: Occupational therapy staff experiences of coping during Covid-19. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 03080226211064490.

Rationale: During the COVID-19 pandemic, health care staff experience increased workload demands, reallocation of duties, adapting to protocols such as use of PPE and concerns about the risk of infecting their family. Health care workers are at a higher risk of burnout in “normal” times and this may be increasingly the case during a crisis situation such as a global pandemic

Occupational therapists have roles including direct client care, educating clients, families and caregivers, in-direct client care through management and leadership positions, academic and research related responsibilities among others. Therefore there is a broad range of ways in which occupational therapists can be and are impacted by the pandemic.

Purpose: To explore how OTs felt and coped during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Methods: A questionnaire was created with open-ended questions asked to 75 participants, 69 of whom were female. The sample included 49 participants who were in a full-time position. Data collection took place during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants answered questions about their coping techniques, what they found most challenging or helpful, and whether anything could have been done differently to enable effective coping.

Findings: 

• Participants reflected on protective factors such as their ability to adapt and remain flexible. With frequently changing processes and protocols, being adaptable eased stressors for some participants. 
• Supportive family members, friends and colleagues were found to be a source of reflection for how well participants felt they were coping. Some participants reported an increased reliance on their social network for emotional support, including talking about their experiences and feelings with others to help process them. 
• Engaging in their own meaningful occupations was an important means of coping with the pandemic, combined with limiting the amount of time they spent reading or watching COVID related news/media.  
• Barriers to coping included organizational, personal and professional challenges. Some occupations that were previously a way to relieve stress such as going to the gym after work were no longer an option during pandemic restrictions. This led to decreased feelings of effective coping and presented challenges for participants who had to find other ways to cope.
• Professional challenges included uncertainty of their role with the rapidly changing processes and procedures at the work place, feeling isolated from the profession, and concern for patients.
• Organizational challenges included mixed messages about work processes and protocols, as well as PPE availability and requirements. 

Conclusion & Implications for OT:

• Consistent and concise communication with clinicians, clients and leadership is important to prevent unnecessary stressors and spread of misinformation.
• Providing channels of communication for clinicians to remain connected to the profession and to their sources of support both within and external to their workplace. 
• Providing and sharing information about effective coping strategies that are realistic and attainable for use at home or in the workplace.
• Seeking opportunities to connect with counseling or other mental health services to assist with emotional and psychological processing of challenging emotions and situations. 

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