Community Frontline Care Staff Perspectives on Covid-19 Restrictions: “It’s not what I was hired to do.”
Publication: Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
13 September 2024
Abstract
The Covid-19 pandemic presented numerous challenges and changes for all frontline providers, but the impacts on care staff in community service agencies is less understood. The current study involving secondary data analysis explored how frontline care staff with a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) program describe their work during the public health restrictions. Semi-structured focus groups were conducted with frontline care staff (N = 20). Inductive thematic analysis resulted in three themes: shifting procedures, adapting interactions, and declining motivation. Changes in work because of Covid-19 and feelings in response to those changes shed light on the as yet unknown cost of the pandemic on these services and the FASD community.
Résumé
La pandémie de COVID-19 a occasionné de nombreux défis et changements pour tous les fournisseurs de services de première ligne, mais les impacts sur le personnel soignant des agences de service communautaire ont été moins documentés. La présente étude, impliquant l’analyse de données secondaires, a exploré comment le personnel soignant de première ligne participant à un programme de troubles du spectre de l’alcoolisation fœtale (TSAF) décrit son travail pendant les restrictions de santé publique. Des groupes de discussion semi-structurés ont été constitués avec le personnel de première ligne (N = 20). Une analyse thématique inductive a mis en évidence 3 thèmes : le changement de procédures, l’adaptation des interactions et la baisse de motivation. Les changements dans le travail à cause de la pandémie, et les sentiments qui en sont résultés, mettent en lumière le prix encore inconnu de cette dernière tant sur ces services qu’au sein de la communauté TSAF.
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Published In
Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
Volume 43 • Number 2 • June 2024
Pages: 49 - 57
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Version of record online: 13 September 2024
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Lia M. Daniels, Bryce S. Dueck, Devyn Rorem, Devon Chazan, and Jacqueline Pei. 2024. Community Frontline Care Staff Perspectives on Covid-19 Restrictions: “It’s not what I was hired to do.”. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health.
43(2): 49-57. https://doi.org/10.7870/cjcmh-2024-012
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