TY - JOUR
T1 - Implementing Psychological First Aid for Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
T2 - A Feasibility Study of the ICARE Model
AU - Chandler, Alexa B.
AU - Wank, Aubrey A.
AU - Vanuk, John R.
AU - O’Connor, Mary Frances
AU - Dreifuss, Bradley A.
AU - Dreifuss, Heather M.
AU - Ellingson, Katherine D.
AU - Khan, Sana M.
AU - Friedman, Sydney E.
AU - Athey, Amy
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2023/9
Y1 - 2023/9
N2 - Maintaining the resilience of healthcare workers (HCWs) during the protracted COVID-19 pandemic is critical as chronic stress is associated with burnout, inability to provide high-quality care, and decreased attentiveness to infection prevention protocols. Between May and July 2020, we implemented the ICARE model of psychological first aid (PFA) in a novel online (i.e., telehealth) format to address the psychological support needs of HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that HCWs needed psychological support related to obtaining clear information about pandemic policies and guidelines, navigating new rules and responsibilities, and processing overwhelming and conflicting emotions. The HCWs in our program repeatedly expressed appreciation for the support we provided. Future directions include establishing online discussion forums, increasing opportunities for individual support, and training HCWs to provide peer support using PFA. This program has far-reaching potential benefit to HCWs and to society at large in the context of a pandemic.
AB - Maintaining the resilience of healthcare workers (HCWs) during the protracted COVID-19 pandemic is critical as chronic stress is associated with burnout, inability to provide high-quality care, and decreased attentiveness to infection prevention protocols. Between May and July 2020, we implemented the ICARE model of psychological first aid (PFA) in a novel online (i.e., telehealth) format to address the psychological support needs of HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that HCWs needed psychological support related to obtaining clear information about pandemic policies and guidelines, navigating new rules and responsibilities, and processing overwhelming and conflicting emotions. The HCWs in our program repeatedly expressed appreciation for the support we provided. Future directions include establishing online discussion forums, increasing opportunities for individual support, and training HCWs to provide peer support using PFA. This program has far-reaching potential benefit to HCWs and to society at large in the context of a pandemic.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Healthcare workers (HCWs)
KW - ICARE
KW - Psychological first aid (PFA)
KW - Telehealth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85137611794&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85137611794&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10880-022-09900-w
DO - 10.1007/s10880-022-09900-w
M3 - Article
C2 - 36076146
SN - 1068-9583
VL - 30
SP - 482
EP - 489
JO - Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings
JF - Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings
IS - 3
ER -