Palestinian Healthcare Workers Mental Health Challenges during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study
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Abstract
Healthcare workers have been working on the frontlines since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. In Palestine Healthcare workers have been experiencing compounded stress given their preexisting limited access and resources as imposed by the Israeli colonial system and their management of the novel coronavirus. This study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on Palestinian healthcare workers’ mental health in relationship to various demographic variables that have been found to correlate to expressed distress in previous literature. Using brief online questionnaires, 596 healthcare workers from various professions rated their experiences of depression, anxiety and risk perception. Descriptive analysis was carried out to analyze the data. Our findings indicate that the overwhelming majority of our participants were experiencing depressive and anxious symptoms, with females, physicians, and less experienced Healthcare workers showing elevated levels of symptomology. It is recommended that psychological services be offered to healthcare workers in Palestine with specific emphasis on the identified risk factors.
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