Risk of COVID-19-related bullying, harassment and stigma among healthcare workers: an analytical cross-sectional global study

Abstract

ObjectivesEssential healthcare workers (HCW) uniquely serve as both COVID-19 healers and, potentially, as carriers of SARS-CoV-2. We assessed COVID-19-related stigma and bullying against HCW controlling for social, psychological, medical and community variables.DesignWe nested an analytical cross-sectional study of COVID-19-related stigma and bullying among HCW within a larger mixed-methods effort assessing COVID-19-related lived experience and impact. Adjusted OR (aOR) and 95% CIs evaluated the association between working in healthcare settings and experience of COVID-19-related bullying and stigma, controlling for confounders. Thematic qualitative analysis provided insight into lived experience of COVID-19-related bullying.SettingWe recruited potential participants in four languages (English, Spanish, French, Italian) through Amazon Mechanical Turk’s online workforce and Facebook.ParticipantsOur sample included 7411 people from 173 countries who were aged 18 years or over.FindingsHCW significantly experienced more COVID-19-related bullying after controlling for the confounding effects of job-related, personal, geographic and sociocultural variables (aOR: 1.5; 95% CI 1.2 to 2.0). HCW more frequently believed that people gossip about others with COVID-19 (OR: 2.2; 95% CI 1.9 to 2.6) and that people with COVID-19 lose respect in the community (OR: 2.3; 95% CI 2.0 to 2.7), both which elevate bullying risk (OR: 2.7; 95% CI 2.3 to 3.2, and OR: 3.5; 95% CI 2.9 to 4.2, respectively). The lived experience of COVID-19-related bullying relates frequently to public identities as HCW traverse through the community, intersecting with other domains (eg, police, racism, violence).InterpretationAfter controlling for a range of confounding factors, HCW are significantly more likely to experience COVID-19-related stigma and bullying, often in the intersectional context of racism, violence and police involvement in community settings.

COVID-Well Study: Qualitative Evaluation of Supported Wellbeing Centres and Psychological First Aid for Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…One example is a ‘Schwatrz Round’, which provides a forum for staff to safely and openly discuss emotional and social challenges of caring for patients [ 49 ]. The evidence also shows that healthcare workers have experienced (or fear experiencing) social stigma and discrimination as a result of their exposure to those affected by COVID-19 [ 37 , 50 , 51 ] which contributes to psychological distress [ 2 ]. Healthcare workers caring for people with COVID-19 have commonly experienced discrimination, alongside people who have recovered from COVID-19, those in lower socioeconomic groups and those with particular religious or racial identities [ 52 ].…”

The Experiences of Health Care Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Korea: a Qualitative Study

“…Since HCWs come into contact with groups susceptible to infection, they may have been stigmatized during the COVID-19 pandemic. Particularly, HCWs were more likely to believe that people spoke negatively or gossiped about them, 35 leading to higher rates of stress and burnout. 36 37 In our study, one participant feared that he would be criticized more harshly than the general public after disclosing his travel route during the pandemic.…”

Psychosocial Effects and Use of Communication Technologies during Home Confinement in the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy and The Netherlands

“…While our study highlights the urgency to monitor and mitigate these outcomes, other related social and/or psychological consequences and detrimental effects of the pandemic should not be overlooked. For instance, recent studies have emphasized the occurrence of disease stigma and discrimination among COVID-19 patients [ 31 ] and bullying and harassment against healthcare workers [ 32 ]. Furthermore, Rooksby and colleagues [ 33 ] argue that, especially amongst young adults, there is higher risk of developing a Hikikomori syndrome.…”

“…This (im) possibility might have been increased by the isolation and limitations related to the outbreak. These studies [ 31 , 32 , 33 ] represent a number of examples within a wide range of possible psycho(social) consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic which have not yet been completely identified or studied. Other than studying different outcomes, research has also focused on how aware people are about the danger they are encountering.…”