MItigating the effects of the paNDemic on health workers – preparing and responding (MIND)

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Jutta Lindert
• Subject Area: Public Health, Healthcare Research, Social and Occupational Medicine
• Term: from 2021 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 468252312

The present study is specifically aimed to:1. Investigate the 9-month-trajectories of mental and behavioural health, related to the COVID-19 pandemic among health workers in Bolivia, Brazil, and South Africa in relation to Germany and other countries in the Global North involved in the HEROES study.2. Examine the effects of societal (e.g. lock-down measures, trust in institutions), demographic (e.g. gender, age, cultural background, socioeconomic status), relationship (e.g. gender-based violence) and work environment (e.g. profession, availability of personal protective equipment, trust in workplace) factors, as well as their interaction, on the mental and behavioural health of health workers during 12-month follow-up;3. Establish a participatory research communication strategy with policy makers, representatives of participating health care centres and patients in which perceptions of factors contributing to positive mental health among health workers are assessed, shared and discussed after 3 and 7 months of follow-up;4. Identify modifiable factors, which have an impact on mental and behavioural health of health care personnel, develop, and evaluate context specific Pandemic Action Plans together with health workers and patients sensitive for the Global South and the Global North conditions based on experiences from previous pandemics in the respective regions.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Bolivia, Brazil, South Africa, USA
• Cooperation Partners: Franco Mascayano; Professor Dr. Ezra Susser
• International Co-Applicants: Armando Basagoitia Echalar; Professor Dr. Landon Myer; Professorin Andréa Tenório Correia da Silva, Ph.D.