Organizational support experiences of care home and home care staff in Sweden, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 pandemic

Lethin, Connie, Kenkmann, Andrea, Chiatti, Carlos, Christensen, Jonas, Backhouse, Tamara ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8194-4174, Killett, Anne ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4080-8365, Fisher, Oliver and Fänge, Agneta Malmgren (2021) Organizational support experiences of care home and home care staff in Sweden, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare, 9 (6). ISSN 2227-9032

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected care workers all over the globe, as older and more vulnerable people face a high risk of developing severe symptoms and dying from the virus infection. The aim of this study was to compare staff experiences of stress and anxiety as well as internal and external organizational support in Sweden, Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom (UK) in order to determine how care staff were affected by the pandemic. A 29-item online questionnaire was used to collect data from care staff respondents: management (n = 136), nurses (n = 132), nursing assistants (n = 195), and other healthcare staff working in these organizations (n = 132). Stress and anxiety levels were highest in the UK and Germany, with Swedish staff showing the least stress. Internal and external support only partially explain the outcomes. Striking discrepancies between different staff groups’ assessment of organizational support as well as a lack of staff voice in the UK and Germany could be key factors in understanding staff’s stress levels during the pandemic. Structural, political, cultural, and economic factors play a significant role, not only factors within the care organization or in the immediate context.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Dementia & Complexity in Later Life Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Lifespan Health
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	23 Jun 2021 00:11
Last Modified:	19 Oct 2023 02:59
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/80317
DOI:	10.3390/healthcare9060767

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