Healthcare workers report Covid stigma
NOIDA: A study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on healthcare workers (HCWS) from 11 cities in the country, including Noida, has found that the subjects reported major family issues and also faced stigma in society following the Covid-19 outbreak last year. The results of the study were published this September.
“The study was published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research and was carried out by conducting in-depth telephonic interviews with 967 HCWS involved in Covid-19 management across 11 cities of Bhubaneswar, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Noida, south Delhi, Pathanamthitta and Kasaragod (Kerala), Chennai, Jabalpur, Kamrup and East Khasi Hills,” said Dr Shalini Singh, director of Icmr-national Institute of Cancer Prevention & Research (NICPR), Noida.
Of the total number of subjects, 54% were women and 46% were men, with most respondents falling in the 20-40 years age group.
The ICMR-NICPR and the department of psychiatry, Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS), Greater Noida, carried out the study in Gautam Budh Nagar by randomly selecting subjects from government hospitals.
Some participants concealed information related to their duties to avoid distressing their family members.
The study details the experiences of stigma and rejection that HCWS faced while caring for Covid patients.
The study has also details that the neighbours, friends and relatives of the HCWS made them feel they were the spreaders of the infection and avoided them, made hurtful remarks and also showed reluctance to interact with them.
“Some HCWS reported that they also had to conceal their identities to prevent any social harassment... There were also some who reported stigma from their own families,” said the
study.
“This attitude was mainly because they were considered as vectors for transmission of the virus and not perceived as those whose primary service was to prevent infection and help those infected,” it said.
Dr NK Sharma, president of the Indian Medical Association (Noida) spoke of a few incidents that took place in Gautam Budhnagar.
“There were instances of doctors facing rejection from society during the first few months of the Covid outbreak. A number of healthcare workers, who were living in rented accommodation in Noida, were asked to move out by their landlords. Some doctors approached the IMA for support and we protested against such behaviour. In some cases, doctors were ridiculed and subjected to bad behaviour. As representatives of doctors in the district, we had to get police protection at some hospitals in the city,” said Dr Sharma.
According to the study’s findings, HCWS reported major changes in their work-life environment. The issue most reported was the long duration of separation from families.
Dr Yatendra Singh, medical superintendent at the community
health centre in Bhangel, Noida said, “It was a huge challenge to be separated from my family after the Covid outbreak. My son was just one-and-a-halfyears old when Covid struck and I had to stay away from him for months as I was on Covid duty. While on one hand, I wanted to hug him, on the other hand, there was the fear of infecting him with the virus.”
Along with the pressure of separation from families, researchers also found out that excessive workload, erratic working hours, challenges of working in a personal protective equipment (PPE) for hours, fear of infection, sleep deprivation, disruption in eating habits contributed to the mental trauma of the HCWS.
“Recent reports indicate that health personnel struggled with higher workloads and a swiftly changing workspace milieu that differed greatly from the familiar day-to-day reality while dealing with the social changes and emotional stressors of Covid-19. The longer working hours with erratic timings reported in the present study resulted in sleep deprivation as well as unhealthy eating patterns, which could have long-term consequences,” said the study.