Psychological distress and resilience of first responders and health care workers during a COVID-19 pandemic

First published: August 13, 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12364

Commentary

With the COVID-19 pandemic, first responders and health care workers have been forced to go through prolonged contact with the public and have faced increased virus-related risks.

Research suggests that health care workers and first responder workers may already have lower levels of psychological well-being associated with occupational risk.

This research paper analyzes data from a large Welsh population survey, (N = 12,989) covering the period June to July 2020.

These levels of psychological distress were compared across a range of professions, including police, fire and rescue and NHS healthcare workers.

The results showed that healthcare workers reported lower levels of distress than the general population. In addition, the fire, rescue and police groups showed less distress and significantly greater recovery than most groups.

These findings provide an optimistic view of psychological resilience in the profession.