Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1368868
42 PATIENT AND CAREGIVER EXPERIENCE More than 20% of healthcare staff faced mental health challenges during pandemic, global study shows By Kelly Gooch M ore than 20 percent of healthcare workers experienced anxiety, de- pression or post-traumatic stress disorder during the pandemic, according to research published March 10 in PLOS One. Nathaniel Scherer, co-lead author of the study and a research assistant at the Lon- don School of Hygiene and Tropical Med- icine, told Becker's the evidence supports the need for mental health intervention. "The evidence is there. Healthcare professionals are demonstrating elevated symptoms of common mental disorders and need support from governments, employers and service providers. Whilst mental health intervention and support is urgently needed, we must also explore and understand the factors associated with symptoms, so that the stressors placed on healthcare professionals can be reduced," he wrote in an email March 11. The systematic review and meta-analysis examined 65 studies conducted between December 2019 and August 2020 on the prevalence of mental disorders among healthcare workers. Data included 97,333 healthcare workers in 21 countries. Most of the studies (46) were conducted in East Asia. Seven took place in the Mid- dle East, five in Europe, three in South Asia, one in South America, two in North America and one in West Africa. Overall, researchers found 21.7 percent of healthcare workers experienced depres- sion, and 22.1 percent experienced anx- iety. More than 21 percent experienced post-traumatic stress disorder. Rates of depression (34.6 percent) and anxiety (28.9 percent) were highest in Middle East studies. They were lowest across the studies of North America (18.7 percent and 14.8 percent, respectively). But Mr. Scherer told CNN findings should be interpreted cautiously given the num- ber of studies analyzed from each area. n Pandemic has increased loneliness more for women than men, research finds By Gabrielle Masson R esearchers found a significant increase in loneliness and a decrease in feelings of friendship during the pandemic, with disproportionate negative effects among women and those with poorer health, according to a study published Feb. 20 in Social Science & Medicine. Researchers with Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic com- pared survey results from 1,996 patients who completed a questionnaire in February 2018 and again during the stay-at- home orders across much of the U.S. in May 2020. The ques- tions were split into six areas of support: emotional, logisti- cal, friendship, loneliness, perceived rejection and perceived hostility. Women reported higher levels of loneliness during the pan- demic compared to men. The largest change in areas of sup- port was a decrease in friendships, followed by an increase in loneliness. Additionally, individuals with more health problems may expe- rience the greatest negative effect on emotional support during significant social change, said Jon Ebbert, MD, an internal medi- cine physician at Mayo Clinic and senior author of the study. However, researchers did note an increase in emotional and lo- gistical support, and a decrease in perceived hostility. n Hackensack Meridian Health names chief experience and people officer By Kelly Gooch L inda McHugh has been chosen as chief experi- ence and people officer of Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health. Ms. McHugh will oversee experience, hospitality and people programs, policies, processes, and practices, the health system said in an April 6 news release. Ms. McHugh worked at Cleveland Clinic for 35 years, most recently as chief human resource officer. Her other previous roles at Cleveland Clinic include exec- utive administrator for the health system and the CEO office, as well as interim chief human resource officer, and administrator for several departments, including rehabilitation medicine and spine center, vascular sur- gery and vascular medicine, and research institute cell biology and neuroscience. Before joining Cleveland Clinic, Ms. McHugh worked at Marymount Hospital in Garfield Heights, Ohio. Ms. McHugh holds an MBA from the Case Western Re- serve University Weatherhead School of Management in Cleveland. n