On 23rd February 2021, the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQa) and the International Hospital Federation (IHF) held a virtual conference on hospital workers wellbeing matters.
The event provided ISQa’s and IHF’s members and the wider community a global perspective on healthcare workers’ wellbeing and an opportunity to hear innovative interventions from healthcare leaders. This event gave participants the opportunity to share their experiences, ideas and challenges and to learn about solutions from other industries.
The event attracted participants from all five continents – in addition to the countries which presented case studies (Belgium, China, Columbia, Ethiopia, India, USA) there was representation from Australia, Brazil, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Malawi, Netherlands, Nigeria, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Spain (Catalonia), Switzerland, Tunisia and Uganda.
The event kicked off with an overview from Jim Campbell, Health Workforce Director at the World Health Organisation (WHO) who presented “International Year of Health and Care Workers- Covid-19: a workforce perspective”. Campbell explained how the impact of the pandemic on the workforce’s physical and mental health was enormous – he highlighted factors such as:
- Lack of appropriate protective personal equipment (PPE) especially in the early stages of the pandemic, resulting in infections but also in anxiety and depression of staff fearing infection for themselves or vulnerable family members
- Burnout and stress from long working hours, work intensity and (sometimes) distressing situations
- Stigma in the wider community, sometimes actual harassment and/or violence especially from upset relatives or the wider public.
Jim Campbell’s presentation was then followed by a series of case studies from the following six different countries: Colombia, Belgium, Ethiopia, India, USA and China.
The presentations were given by:
- Dr. Adolfo Llinás Volpe, Chief Medical Officer, Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, Colombia
- Prof. Marc Noppen, CEO, University Hospital UZ Brussel, Belgium
- Noah Wubishet Ayele, Counseling Psychologist and the Co-ordinator of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Taskforce, Ethiopian Ministry of Health-COVID case management
- Dr. Lallu Joseph, Quality Manager & Associate General Superintendent, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
- Mary Nash, Vice President, Organization Development and Learning, NYU Langone Health, USA
- Prof. Anne Lee (Wing Mui Anne Lee), Deputy Hospital Chief Executive, The University of Hong Kong – Shenzhen Hospital, China; Clinical Professor and Head of the Department of Clinical Oncology, The University of Hong Kong
Full presentation and more information can be found here: https://www.ihf-fih.org/ihf-events/hospital-workers-wellbeing-matters-session-recordings/
