The Impact of Health Inequities on Physicians’ Occupational Well-Being During COVID-19: A Qualitative Analysis from Four US Cities

Details

• Personal Author:
  Berlinger N ; Browne A ; Buchbinder L ; Buchbinder M ; Jenkins T
• Description:
  Objective: The aim of this study is to describe frontline physicians' perceptions of the impact of racial-ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in COVID-19 infection and mortality on their occupational well-being. Methods: One hundred and forty-five qualitative, semi structured interviews were conducted between February 2021and June 2022 with hospital medicine, emergency medicine, pulmonary/critical care, and palliative care physicians caring for hospitalized COVID-19 patients in four US cities. Results: Physicians reported encountering COVID-related health disparities and inequities at the societal, organizational, and individual levels. Encountering these inequities, in turn, contributed to stress among frontline physicians, whose concerns revealed how structural conditions both shaped COVID disparities and constrained their ability to protect populations at risk from poor outcomes. Physicians reported feeling complicit in the perpetuation of inequities or helpless to mitigate observed inequities and experienced feelings of grief, guilt, moral distress, and burnout. Conclusions: Health inequities are an under-acknowledged source of physicians' occupational stress that requires solutions beyond the clinical context. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Emergency Responders Health Personnel Mental Health Mortality Nervous System Occupational Health Race Factors Safety
• Keywords:
  COVID-19 Emergency Care Health Care Personnel Mental Health Mortality Rates Physicians Qualitative Analysis Racial Factors Socioeconomics Stress
• ISSN:
  1553-5592
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; New York ; North Carolina ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  18
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20067379
• Citation:
  J Hosp Med 2023 Jul; 18(7):595-602
• Contact Point Address:
  Alyssa Browne MA, Department of Sociology, UNC-Chapel Hill, 155 Pauli Murray Hall CB3210, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
• Email:
  alyssarb@live.unc.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• Performing Organization:
  University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20210901
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Hospital Medicine
• End Date:
  20230831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:61841c0ac9abd67aae614fcfcb6ec239d44856e44d38e262470767c7bc039c643c8f277c54ca2a9915e305ee15c7cf92d29d4d88dd97fce837b2951f659b1189
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/231435/cdc_231435_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.16 MB ]