“The worst thing that has happened to me”: Healthcare and social services professionals confronting death during the COVID-19 crisis

Abstract

ObjectivesThis study analyzes the subjective emotional impact COVID-19 deaths have had on healthcare, social services, and funeral services professionals, it explores the different implications, and analyzes the different reactions of health and social care professionals and funeral professionals to the volume of deaths.MethodsThis work is based on a qualitative, phenomenological, and interpretative approach through in-depth interviews with 42 informants, including 36 social and healthcare professionals, as well as 6 family members of those who died from COVID-19 in Madrid. The interviews were processed through a qualitative, interpretative, categorical analysis.ResultsHealthcare professionals were overexposed to a significant number of deaths under dramatic circumstances. Many of these professionals had difficulties processing their experiences and expressed the need for psychological help. The fact that certain professionals had previous exposure to high mortality rates was not a protective factor. Some coping differences were seen between healthcare professionals and professionals dedicated to the care of the deceased (undertakers or firemen), particularly in the degree to which they personalized the care they provided.ConclusionThe overexposure to death with the circumstances that existed during the state of emergency had a significant emotional impact on the professionals, which can lead to mental health problems in the near term.

Anthropological and social approach to death anxiety in the state security forces during the COVID-19 crisis

“…Numerous researches in professions considered essential have shown high ranks of anxiety about death as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, given that they had to deal directly with people affected and in a context of high mortality, as is the case of health workers, social workers, residential staff and even the FFCCSE themselves (Hernández-Fernández & Meneses-Falcón, 2022;Karabağ & Fidan, 2022;Martínez-López et al, 2021;Shinan-Altman et al, 2022).…”