TY  - JOUR
AU  - Liu, Jenny J W
AU  - Nazarov, Anthony
AU  - Plouffe, Rachel A
AU  - Forchuk, Callista A
AU  - Deda, Erisa
AU  - Gargala, Dominic
AU  - Le, Tri
AU  - Bourret-Gheysen, Jesse
AU  - Soares, Vanessa
AU  - Nouri, Maede S
AU  - Hosseiny, Fardous
AU  - Smith, Patrick
AU  - Roth, Maya
AU  - MacDougall, Arlene G
AU  - Marlborough, Michelle
AU  - Jetly, Rakesh
AU  - Heber, Alexandra
AU  - Albuquerque, Joy
AU  - Lanius, Ruth
AU  - Balderson, Ken
AU  - Dupuis, Gabrielle
AU  - Mehta, Viraj
AU  - Richardson, J Don
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/9/27
TI  - Exploring the Well-being of Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Protocol for a Prospective Longitudinal Study
JO  - JMIR Res Protoc
SP  - e32663
VL  - 10
IS  - 9
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - health care worker
KW  - pandemic
KW  - mental health
KW  - wellbeing
KW  - survey
KW  - design
KW  - longitudinal
KW  - prospective
KW  - protocol
KW  - challenge
KW  - impact
KW  - distress
KW  - perception
AB  - Background: Health care workers (HCWs) have experienced several stressors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Structural stressors, including extended work hours, redeployment, and changes in organizational mandates, often intersect with interpersonal and personal stressors, such as caring for those with COVID-19 infections; worrying about infection of self, family, and loved ones; working despite shortages of personal protective equipment; and encountering various difficult moral-ethical dilemmas. Objective: The paper describes the protocol for a longitudinal study seeking to capture the unique experiences, challenges, and changes faced by HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study seeks to explore the impact of COVID-19 on the mental well-being of HCWs with a particular focus on moral distress, perceptions of and satisfaction with delivery of care, and how changes in work structure are tolerated among HCWs providing clinical services. Methods: A prospective longitudinal design is employed to assess HCWs’ experiences across domains of mental health (depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and well-being), moral distress and moral reasoning, work-related changes and telehealth, organizational responses to COVID-19 concerns, and experiences with COVID-19 infections to self and to others. We recruited HCWs from across Canada through convenience snowball sampling to participate in either a short-form or long-form web-based survey at baseline. Respondents to the baseline survey are invited to complete a follow-up survey every 3 months, for a total of 18 months. Results: A total of 1926 participants completed baseline surveys between June 26 and December 31, 2020, and 1859 participants provided their emails to contact them to participate in follow-up surveys. As of July 2021, data collection is ongoing, with participants nearing the 6- or 9-month follow-up periods depending on their initial time of self-enrollment. Conclusions: This protocol describes a study that will provide unique insights into the immediate and longitudinal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dimensions of mental health, moral distress, health care delivery, and workplace environment of HCWs. The feasibility and acceptability of implementing a short-form and long-form survey on participant engagement and data retention will also be discussed. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/32663 
SN  - 1929-0748
UR  - https://www.researchprotocols.org/2021/9/e32663
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/32663
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34477557
DO  - 10.2196/32663
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/32663
ER  -