Healthcare workers focal point of new study

A health-care worker attends to a COVID-19 patient in an intensive care unit (ICU) at the General University Hospital in Prague, Czech Republic, Tuesday, April 7, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Petr David Josek

WINDSOR, ONT. — A $5,000 grant will look into how frontline workers are emotionally handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hotel Dieu Grace Healthcare, along with St. Clair College and the University of Windsor received a research grant from the WE-Spark Research Institute to look into the psychological impact COVID-19 is having on healthcare workers.

The online survey will ask workers about their mental well-being and levels of stress since the beginning of the pandemic. “Healthcare workers are facing a number of challenges,” says Dr. Jennifer Voth, Research Associate at Hotel Dieu Grace Healthcare.

“Increased workload or extended shifts. Some staff members have taken on new or unfamiliar roles during the pandemic.”

The study launches today, and will be available to healthcare workers for the next three weeks.

Voth says the survey takes 20 minutes, and will be done once again in the fall.