THE first research project to track the wellbeing of frontline key workers during the Covid-19 pandemic has been launched by researchers from the University of Limerick and the University of Gloucestershire.
The researchers are looking for people across the UK and Ireland, who are deployed in frontline key worker positions, to take part in the longitudinal survey. They want to hear from those working on the frontline, from hospitals to supermarkets, to understand how the impact of being a key worker affects their wellbeing over time.
The research team is headed by University of Limerick Psychology lecturer Dr Elaine Kinsella, who is an expert in the psychology of heroism, and Dr Rachel Sumner from the University of Gloucestershire,who is an expert in stress and wellbeing. Their team will be concentrating on factors that may predict wellbeing as the pandemic continues.
Their questionnaire asks about how frontline heroes feel about the pandemic, and how their wellbeing might be impacted by the increasing strain on their reserves. It asks about how they cope, what their approaches are to helping others, and how they feel about government strategies to deal with the various issues posed by the pandemic.
An important part of the study will be to see if there are any differences between the two countries in terms of how frontline workers are coping with increased demands on their personal resources. With markedly different strategies to deal with the pandemic, data from the two countries will provide an interesting case study into how national policy may impact frontline worker wellbeing during times of crisis.
“The heroic efforts of our key workers, whatever their role, rely on them being able to cope with the extraordinary pressure that they are all facing in this rapidly changing situation. We hope the study will help us understand more about how they cope, and how they can be helped,” Dr Kinsella explained.
The researchers want to hear from as many people as possible over the age of 18 that works in a frontline key worker role during the pandemic in the UK or Republic of Ireland, including those who have recently answered the call to re-join organisations like the NHS and the HSE.
The first survey takes about 20 minutes to complete, and respondents are invited to register for follow-up surveys taking no longer than five minutes every two weeks as things progress. There is also an option to opt-in to follow-up interviews so the researchers can explore the nature of the heroism of these workers, what they feel they’ve been up against, and what support they’ve had or felt they needed.
Visit the CV19 Heroes page on Facebook for more.
