McKee Hayley, Gohar Basem, Appleby Ryan, Nowrouzi-Kia Behdin, Hagen Briana N M, Jones-Bitton Andria
Department of Population Medicine, The University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
Department of Psychology, The University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada.
Front Vet Sci. 2021 Oct 18;8:746716. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.746716. eCollection 2021.
Higher psychosocial work demands in veterinary and academic professions are associated with decreased occupational, physical, and mental well-being. COVID-19 introduced far-reaching challenges that may have increased the psychosocial work demands for these populations, thereby impacting individual- and institutional-level well-being. Our objective was to investigate the psychosocial work demands, health and well-being, and perceived needs of faculty, staff, residents and interns at the Ontario Veterinary College, in Ontario, Canada, during COVID-19. A total of 157 respondents completed a questionnaire between November 2020 and January 2021, that included the Third Version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ-III) and open-text questions on perceived needs for well-being. Results showed that COPSOQ-III dimensions of quantitative demands, recognition, sense of community, burnout, stress, and depressive symptoms, were significantly worse in our study population than the Canadian norm. Quantitative and emotional demands, health and well-being (including depressive symptoms, stress, cognitive stress, somatic stress, and burnout), and work-life conflict were also reported to have worsened since the COVID-19 restrictions for most respondents. Females and caregivers had higher odds of experiencing increased work demands, and decreased health and well-being, compared to males and non-caregivers. However, male caregivers experienced worsened supervisor relations, compared to female caregivers. Social capital also worsened for clinical and part-time employees, compared to full-time and non-clinical employees. Respondents identified increased workload support, community-building, recognition of employees' capacities and personal needs, flexible work schedules, and consistent communication, as strategies to increase well-being during COVID-19 and generally. Overall, our findings suggest that COVID-19 has increased occupational demands, work-life conflicts, and decreased well-being in veterinary academia. Institutional-level interventions are discussed and recommended to aid individual and institutional well-being.
兽医和学术职业中较高的心理社会工作要求与职业、身体和心理健康状况下降有关。新冠疫情带来了深远的挑战，可能增加了这些人群的心理社会工作要求，从而影响个人和机构层面的健康。我们的目标是调查在新冠疫情期间，加拿大安大略省安大略兽医学院的教职员工、住院医师和实习生的心理社会工作要求、健康和幸福感以及感知到的需求。共有157名受访者在2020年11月至2021年1月期间完成了一份问卷，其中包括哥本哈根心理社会问卷第三版（COPSOQ-III）以及关于幸福感感知需求的开放式问题。结果显示，我们研究人群中COPSOQ-III的定量要求、认可、社区感、倦怠、压力和抑郁症状等维度，比加拿大标准明显更差。大多数受访者还表示，自新冠疫情限制措施实施以来，定量和情感需求、健康和幸福感（包括抑郁症状、压力、认知压力、躯体压力和倦怠）以及工作与生活的冲突都有所恶化。与男性和非照顾者相比，女性和照顾者经历工作需求增加、健康和幸福感下降的几率更高。然而，与女性照顾者相比，男性照顾者与上级的关系更差。与全职和非临床员工相比，临床和兼职员工的社会资本也有所恶化。受访者认为增加工作量支持、社区建设、认可员工能力和个人需求、灵活工作时间表以及持续沟通，是在新冠疫情期间及总体上提高幸福感的策略。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，新冠疫情增加了兽医学术界的职业需求、工作与生活的冲突，并降低了幸福感。文中讨论并推荐了机构层面的干预措施，以促进个人和机构的健康。
