Psychological support for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed methods study involving support providers

Figures & data

Table 1. Joint display of mixed methods data collection.

Overarching theoretical construct	Quantitative data measurement area/analyses	Qualitative Data Questions
Thoughts/feelings before providing support	Anxiety levels prior to undertaking their new role	What thoughts and feelings did you have about providing the support before starting your role?
Experience of providing support	Usefulness ratings of supports Quality of the support and guidance ratings How challenging it was to manage the demands of their job role How challenging it was to maintain a work-life balance Stress levels during provision of supports Confidence levels in providing supports Level of job satisfaction	What was the experience of providing the supports like for you? What challenges did you face in delivering staff psychology support?
Future provision recommendations	Recommendations for improvement of staff support delivery Predictors of provider experience (i.e. gender, specialism, clinician years’ experience, clinician seniority, and number of supports provided)	What aspects of the provision did you think worked well? Have you any suggestions for how to improve psychological support services for staff?

Table 2. Demographic variables from the Psychology Support Provider Survey sample.

Variable	Descriptive Statistic
Gender, n (%)
Male	18 (21.43%)
Female	66 (78.57%)
Clinical specialism, n (%)
Adult Mental Health	29 (34.52%)
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services	6 (7.14%)
Health	16 (19.05%)
Intellectual Disability	5 (5.95%)
Neuropsychology	6 (7.14%)
Occupational Health/Staff Wellbeing	6 (7.14%)
Other specialist services	11 (13.10%)
Other	5 (5.95%)
Clinician years experience, n (%)
0–5 years	18 (21.43%)
6–10 years	12 (14.29%)
11–15 years	15 (17.86%)
16 + years	39 (46.43%)
Clinician seniority, n (%)
Pre-qualification clinical staff (assistants, associates, trainees)	11 (13.10%)
Psychological therapist/Clinical or Counselling Psychologist	16 (19.05%)
Specialist Clinical/Counselling Psychologist/Psychological Therapist	23 (27.38%)
Consultant Clinical Psychologist	24 (28.57%)
Other	10 (11.90%)
Support provided, n (%)
Staff Wellbeing Helpline	63 (75.00%)
Drop-In Centres	28 (33.33%)
Hospital In-reach Support	18 (21.42%)
Community Out-reach Support	18 (21.42%)
General Wellbeing Initiatives	25 (29.76%)

Table 3. Provider experience ratings from the Psychology Support Provider sample.

Variable	Mean (SD)
Number of supports provided	1.81 (1.10)
Prior anxiety	2.43 (0.94)
Stress levels	2.01 (0.86)
Confidence levels	3.93 (0.82)
Job satisfaction	3.89 (0.92)
Ability to manage demands of job role	2.69 (1.13)
Work-life balance	2.25 (1.34)

Figure 1. Provider ratings of staff support usefulness.

Figure 2. Provider ratings of support and guidance given to assist delivery of each staff.

Table 4. Factors associated with experience providing psychology support to health and social care staff.

	Prior anxiety		Stress		Confidence		Job satisfaction		Job role demands		Work-life balance
	B (SE)	β	B (SE)	Β	B (SE)	β	B (SE)	β	B (SE)	β	B (SE)	β
Gender (male = reference)
Female	−.04 (.27)	−.02	−.21 (.23)	−.10	.33 (.18)	.18	.02 (.25)	.01	.03 (.35)	.01	−.13 (.36)	−.04
Clinical specialism (adult = reference)
Non-adult	−.12 (.25)	−.06	.45 (.22)	.25*	.22 (.15)	.12	.02 (.23)	.01	.33 (.31)	.14	.95 (.29)	.33**
Other	.33 (.51)	.08	.15 (.64)	.04	.34 (.36)	.10	.71 (.40)	.17	.30 (.49)	.06	−.67 (.32)	−.11*
Years as a clinician	−.23 (.15)	−.29	−.13 (.11)	−.18	.42 (.08)	.63***	.46 (.12)	.60***	−.01 (.19)	−.01	−.11 (.19)	−.10
Job position seniority	.08 (.14)	.09	.13 (.13)	.16	−.02 (.10)	−.03	−.33 (.14)	−.37*	.13 (.22)	.12	.29 (.20)	.23
Number of provision types	−.14 (.13)	−.16	.01 (.09)	.01	.03 (.06)	.05	.11 (.11)	.13	.01 (.14)	.01	.48 (.14)	.39**

Note: *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.

Figure 3. Percentage of providers endorsing specific recommendations for improvement of staff support delivery.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author (KD), upon reasonable request. The data are not publicly available due to privacy and ethical restrictions.