The following is a summary of “Allergy and Immunology Physician and Patient (Un)Wellness During COVID-19 and Beyond: Lessons for the Future,” published in the November 2023 issue of Allergy and Clinical Immunology by Bingemann, et al.
The COVID-19 outbreak made both patients and doctors more stressed and less healthy. Uncertainty, regular changes, fear of getting sick or dying, and problems with the supply chain put extra stress on a healthcare system that was already broken. Control, regularity, and confidence make for a good workplace. The outbreak took away these things. During this time, the number of depressed, suicidal, and anxious doctors and people in the general population went up. These problems got worse because people had different ideas about masks and vaccines.
These things, along with how much people felt appreciated or not, also made stress worse. Some changes, like switching to video, were stressful initially, but they made patients happy and kept clinical care going. Some changes could have been better, like teaching or watching young children while working. Both patients and doctors did their best to deal with loneliness, fear, worry, and the many changes in society. During the pandemic, burnout changed depending on the number of infections, the number of vaccinations, problems with the supply chain, and the amount of support given to each person.
The pandemic brought to light problems in their healthcare system, such as structural racism, differences in healthcare, and how quickly the system can become overloaded. Doctors may have been put in positions they didn’t want to be in or may need more staff to practice how they wanted. Patients and doctors both got angry because of these things. In its National Plan for Health Workforce Well-Being, the government says that health care needs to be reformed so that patients can get good, safe care and doctors don’t get burned out.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213219823009273
