A Psychoeducational Intervention to Prevent the Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic in Primary Care Workers

Summary

The goal of this quasi-experimental pragmatic study is to design, implement and evaluate a psychoeducational group intervention aimed at preventing the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological wellbeing and mental health of primary care healthcare workers.

The experience will be carried out in real clinical practice conditions and our purpose is to evaluate it not only in terms of clinical effectiveness but, especially, the terms of feasibility, usefulness, and possibility of this intervention being integrated into the usual practice in primary care centers.

There will be two types of participation and a mixed quantitative-qualitative methodology. On one hand, the healthcare workers that will receive the intervention and participate in the study by responding to various before and after online surveys with standardized scales. On the other hand, the community psychologists in charge of implementing the intervention, having received guidelines and training, will help gather the participants' data and will provide their perceptions, assessments, and opinions on the program through other questionnaires. After the intervention, a selection of both healthcare workers and psychologists will participate in qualitative in-depth, or group interviews to explore the nuances of their perceptions of the program.

The results will allow the investigators to know the usefulness and effectiveness of the intervention and, above all, to model and improve its design and implementation strategy, and promote its generalization beyond the framework of this project.

Conditions

• Mental Health Issue
• Burnout, Professional

Interventions

OTHER

Psychoeducational program

A psychoeducational program consisting of 11 one-hour sessions, with a weekly or biweekly frequency, each one regarding specific tools and skills to promote emotional well-being, self-care, and the ability to deal with stressful situations. They are conducted by community psychologists, who will give a brief theoretical introduction and then conduct practical group exercises that apply the concepts introduced. Every session ends with a relaxation exercise and some habits that the participants can incorporate into their daily life. Session Index: (1) Emotional management;(2) Thought management; (3) Stress management; (4) Communication skills, active listening, and empathy; (5) Self-care; (6) Individual/group self-esteem; (7) Anxiety/coping with panic. Mindfulness; (8) Activating motivation; (9) Problem-Solving; (10) Positive psychology and emotional intelligence; (11) Emotional expression through art.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Fundació Galatea

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Institut Català de la Salut

  collaborator OTHER

• Department of Health, Generalitat de Catalunya

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Fundacio d'Investigacio en Atencio Primaria Jordi Gol i Gurina

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Enric Aragonès Benaiges, MD, PhD · IDIAPJgol

• Josep Basora Gallisà, MD, PhD · IDIAPJgol

• Francisco M Martín Luján, MD, PhD · IDIAPJgol

• Anna Berenguera Ossó, DrPH · IDIAPJgol

• Ariadna Mas Casals, MD · Institut Català de la Salut

• Sara Rodoreda Noguerola, MD · Institut Català de la Salut

• Antoni Calvo López · Fundació Galatea, Fundació Privada

• Concepción Rambla Vidal, MD · IDIAPJgol

• Meritxell Guitart Peces · ICS

• Eva García Cots · ICS

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-04-01

Primary Completion

2024-06-30

Completion

2024-12-31

Countries

• Spain

Study Locations