Mark Davies, Davina Carr, Joe Dugan, Nigel Hart, Ruth Kirkpatrick, Claire Loughrey, Paul Loughrey, George O'Neill
{"title":"SUPPORT FOR GENERAL PRACTITONERS DURING COVID-19.","authors":"Mark Davies, Davina Carr, Joe Dugan, Nigel Hart, Ruth Kirkpatrick, Claire Loughrey, Paul Loughrey, George O'Neill","doi":"","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Evidence of initiatives to support General Practitioners (GPs) during the Covid-19 pandemic is scant.</p><p><strong>Aim: </strong>To understand the impact of a novel method of providing support in the early stages of the pandemic.</p><p><strong>Design and setting: </strong>A mixed-methods study of GPs working in a socially deprived area of Belfast.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A survey was distributed to GPs who had attended a series of educational meetings at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey incorporated the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale and questions about the virtual meetings. Follow-up interviews were undertaken with five GPs to further explore their lived experiences and their perceptions of the virtual support forum.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a measurable diminution of emotional well-being in GPs in North and West Belfast. Attendees rated a series of virtual meetings highly and described the following themes (<i>and subthemes</i>): a sudden traumatic change (<i>emotional response, fight or flight, painful reminders of the status of general practice in the NHS</i>); a coming together (<i>stepping up to take responsibility, sharing of information, feeling of affirmation</i>); reflections on what worked (<i>calming facilitation, careful selection of speakers, creating the right atmosphere, ownership and autonomy</i>) and building future direction (<i>defining future direction, capitalising on lesson learned</i>).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The virtual meetings harnessed the instinct to come together witnessed at the beginning of the pandemic, and as well as sharing valuable information, also provided emotional support along with a sense of comradeship, ownership and autonomy.</p><p><strong>How this fits in: </strong>GPs did not feel included or supported at the outset of the pandemic. Coming together with fellow professionals was a welcome source of support. Professional support can be delivered using a virtual platform. Continued professional development is more acceptable than explicit emotional support, but when done well can bolster resilience and emotional well-being.</p>","PeriodicalId":38815,"journal":{"name":"Ulster Medical Journal","volume":"90 3","pages":"151-156"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/b5/8c/umj-90-03-151.PMC8581688.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Ulster Medical Journal","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2021/11/11 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Evidence of initiatives to support General Practitioners (GPs) during the Covid-19 pandemic is scant.
Aim: To understand the impact of a novel method of providing support in the early stages of the pandemic.
Design and setting: A mixed-methods study of GPs working in a socially deprived area of Belfast.
Method: A survey was distributed to GPs who had attended a series of educational meetings at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey incorporated the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale and questions about the virtual meetings. Follow-up interviews were undertaken with five GPs to further explore their lived experiences and their perceptions of the virtual support forum.
Results: The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a measurable diminution of emotional well-being in GPs in North and West Belfast. Attendees rated a series of virtual meetings highly and described the following themes (and subthemes): a sudden traumatic change (emotional response, fight or flight, painful reminders of the status of general practice in the NHS); a coming together (stepping up to take responsibility, sharing of information, feeling of affirmation); reflections on what worked (calming facilitation, careful selection of speakers, creating the right atmosphere, ownership and autonomy) and building future direction (defining future direction, capitalising on lesson learned).
Conclusion: The virtual meetings harnessed the instinct to come together witnessed at the beginning of the pandemic, and as well as sharing valuable information, also provided emotional support along with a sense of comradeship, ownership and autonomy.
How this fits in: GPs did not feel included or supported at the outset of the pandemic. Coming together with fellow professionals was a welcome source of support. Professional support can be delivered using a virtual platform. Continued professional development is more acceptable than explicit emotional support, but when done well can bolster resilience and emotional well-being.