When a Crisis Hits, Send in the Psychologists? A Latent Transition Analysis of Help-Seeking Behavior Among Swedish Healthcare Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

During a crisis, there is limited time to plan support initiatives for healthcare workers and few resources available to ensure that they engage with them. Using the context of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, this study aimed to investigate help-seeking behaviors among healthcare workers in relation to psychological support initiatives offered to them. Data from a Swedish longitudinal survey following healthcare workers from early (N = 681) to mid-pandemic (N = 396) were analyzed using latent class and transition analyses. We found three patterns of healthcare workers’ help-seeking behavior that applied to both time points: (1) engaging with different forms of group-based support, (2) not participating in any kind of offered support, and (3) only having been offered information-based support. The availability of support declined during the mid-pandemic. Group support users were primarily nurses and frontline workers, with higher levels of burnout symptoms. Our findings suggest that healthcare organizations should limit their implementation of psychological support during a crisis to a few key formats based on social support. Promoting participation from all staff groups may enhance the inclusivity, effectiveness, and sustainability of the support.