The Psychosocial, Organizational, and Environmental Stressors Experienced by Food Service Workers in a Hospital Setting during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Occup Environ Med
• Personal Author:
  Kent, Karen Butcher ; Zhang, Ying ; Roemer, Enid Chung ; Davis, Meghan F. ; Safeer, Richard ; Mojica, Angelo ; Goetzel, Ron Z.
• Description:
  Objective: ; To identify stressors faced by hospital food service workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic and effective interventions mitigating these stressors. ; Methods: ; In this cross-sectional study, we conducted surveys (n=305) and interviews (n=9) in the summer and fall of 2022 with employees in hospital settings to determine the psychosocial, organizational, and environmental stressors they faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and interventions that improved health and well-being. ; Findings: ; The main stressors reported were fear of infection, increased work demands and schedule unpredictability, and financial insecurity. Employee well-being was bolstered by regular, clear, bidirectional communication; a sense of community and purpose; benefits like paid sick leave and health insurance coverage; and organizational policies that included masking and vaccine requirements demonstrating commitment to protecting worker health. ; Conclusion: ; Organizations can play a critical role in guarding the health, well-being, and resilience of frontline workers.
• Subjects:
  • Humans
  • COVID-19
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Male
  • Female
  • Adult
  • Middle Aged
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Occupational Stress
  • Food Service, Hospital
  More +
• Keywords:
  • Workplace health promotion
  • employee health and well-being
  • wellness
  • COVID-19
  • stressors
  • essential workers
  • frontline workers
  • hospital
  • food service workers
  • interventions
  More +
• Source:
  J Occup Environ Med. 66(7):556-563
• Pubmed ID:
  38595305
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC11230843
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  U19 OH012297/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  66
• Issue:
  7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/158529/cdc_158529_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 833.98 KB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bc3a2f7348fc2da3549c1da57570b3ff3ed0ba345a8af8e414455c6c2b92dfdfc337efc337178ba6ab6db138317fbed6062d8680d1b015e4fe184b9c27898509