Experiences and views of frontline healthcare workers’ family members in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study

ABSTRACT

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a well-documented negative impact on the mental health and wellbeing of frontline healthcare workers (HCWs). Whilst no research has to date been carried out to explore the challenges experienced by the families of HCWs, some previous research has been conducted with military families, demonstrating that family members of deployed military personnel may also be affected seriously and negatively.

Objectives

This study aimed to explore the experiences, views, and mental health impact on frontline HCWs’ families during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK and what support the families of frontline HCWs may need.

Method

Close family members and friends of HCWs were interviewed. Transcripts were analysed in line with the principles of reflexive thematic analysis.

Results

We completed fourteen interviews with three siblings, one mother, one friend, and nine spouses of HCWs. Family members were highly motivated to support healthcare workers and felt an intense sense of pride in their work. However, they also experienced increased domestic responsibilities and emotional burden due to anxiety about their loved ones’ work. The fact that sacrifices made by family members were not noticed by society, the anxiety they felt about their family’s physical health, the impact of hearing about traumatic experiences, and the failure of healthcare organisations to meet the needs of the HCWs all negatively affected the family members.

Conclusions

We have an ethical responsibility to attend to the experiences and needs of the families of healthcare professionals. This study emphasises the experiences and needs of family members of healthcare professionals, which have hitherto been missing from the literature. Further research is needed to hear from more parents, siblings and friends, partners in same sex relationships, as well as children of HCWs, to explore the variety of family members and supporters’ experiences more fully.

HIGHLIGHTS

• COVID19 has impacted families of HCWs as well as workers themselves. They have experienced more anxiety, increased practical burden, significant physical health risks and been exposed vicariously to workers’ traumatic experiences. We must ensure HCW families are better supported

Antecedentes: La pandemia de COVID-19 ha tenido un impacto negativo bien documentado en la salud mental y bienestar de los trabajadores de la salud de la primera línea (HCWs por sus siglas en ingles). Mientras que hasta la fecha no se han llevado a cabo investigaciones que exploren los desafíos experimentados por las familias de los HCWs, algunas investigaciones previas fueron realizadas con familias de militares, demostrando que los miembros de la familia del personal militar desplegado también pueden ser afectados seria y negativamente.

Objetivos: Este estudio apuntó a explorar las experiencias, puntos de vista, y el impacto en la salud mental de las familias de los HCWs de la primera línea durante la pandemia de COVID-19 en el Reino Unido y qué apoyo estas familias podrían necesitar.

Método: Completamos catorce entrevistas con tres hermanos, una madre, un amigo y nueve esposas de HCWs. Los familiares estaban altamente motivados en apoyar a los trabajadores de la salud y sintieron un intenso sentido de orgullo por su trabajo. Sin embargo, también experimentaron un aumento en las responsabilidades domésticas y en la carga emocional debido a la ansiedad sobre el trabajo de sus seres queridos. El hecho de que el sacrificio hecho por los familiares no fuera notado por la sociedad, la ansiedad que sintieron sobre la salud física de su familia, el impacto de escuchar sobre experiencias traumáticas y la falla de las organizaciones de salud en conocer las necesidades de los HCWs, todo ello afectó negativamente a los familiares.

Conclusiones: Tenemos una responsabilidad ética de abordar las experiencias y necesidades de los familiares de los profesionales de la salud. Este estudio enfatiza las experiencias y necesidades de los familiares de los profesionales de la salud, que hasta ahora no han aparecido en la literatura. Se necesita mayor investigación para escuchar a más padres, hermanos y amigos, parejas en relaciones del mismo sexo, así como de hijos de HCWs, para explorar de forma más completa la variedad de las experiencias de las familias y personas de apoyo.

背景： COVID-19 疫情对一线医护人员 (HCW) 的心理健康和幸福产生了有据可查的负面影响。虽然至今尚未开展任何研究来探讨 HCW 家庭成员所面临的挑战，先前对军人家庭成员进行的一些研究表明服役军人家庭成员也可能受到严重和负面的影响。

目的：本研究旨在探讨英国 COVID-19 疫情期间一线医护人员家庭成员的经历、观点和心理健康影响，以及一线医护人员家人可能需要的支持。

方法：采访了医护人员的亲密家庭成员和朋友。文字稿的分析符合反身主题分析的原则。

结果：我们完成了对 HCW 的三个兄弟姐妹、一位母亲、一位朋友和九位配偶的 14 次访谈。家庭成员非常积极地支持医护人员，并对他们的工作感到强烈的自豪感。然而，由于对亲人工作的焦虑，他们也经历了更多的家庭责任和情感负担。家庭成员做出的牺牲没有被社会注意到，他们对家人身体健康的焦虑，听到创伤经历的影响，以及医疗机构未能满足医护人员的需求，这些都对家庭成员产生了负面影响。

结论：我们有关注医护专业人员家庭成员的经历和需求的伦理责任。本研究强调了至今一直在文献中缺失的医护专业人员家庭成员的经历和需求。需要进一步研究以听取更多父母、兄弟姐妹和朋友、同性关系伴侣以及医护人员子女的意见，以更全面地探讨家庭成员和支持者的各种经历。

KEYWORDS:

• Secondary trauma
• family members
• healthcare workers
• qualitative
• occupational trauma

PALABRAS CLAVES:

• Trauma secundario
• familiares
• trabajadores de la salud
• cualitativo
• trauma ocupacional

关键词:

• 二次创伤
• 家庭成员
• 医护人员
• 定性
• 职业创伤

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the family members of HCWs who gave up their time to take part in this research. We also would like to thank the Ministry of Education in Turkey, who has supported Sahra Tekin for her PhD studies.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author (ST), upon reasonable request. The data have not been made publicly available due to the personal and sensitive content of the participants’ accounts.