'I never leave my house without praying':  a qualitative exploration of the psychospiritual experiences of ethnically diverse healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic

Harmandeep Kaur Gill; Juliet Chastney; Riya Patel; Brian Nyatanga; Catherine Henshall; Guy Harrison

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-070409

'I never leave my house without praying': a qualitative exploration of the psychospiritual experiences of ethnically diverse healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic

Harmandeep Kaur Gill
, Juliet Chastney
, Riya Patel
, Brian Nyatanga
, Catherine Henshall
, Guy Harrison

Oxford Brookes University
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
University of Worcester

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

76 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

ObjectivesThe study aimed to understand the psychospiritual experiences and support needs of ethnically diverse healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.DesignA qualitative study using focus groups conducted remotely on Microsoft Teams.SettingThe study took place across 10 National Health Service Trusts in England: 5 were Acute Hospital Trusts and 5 were Community and Mental Health Trusts.ParticipantsFifty-five participants were recruited to the study across 16 focus group meetings. Participants were all National Health Service staff from ethnically diverse backgrounds.ResultsPsychospiritual concerns were central to participants' understanding of themselves and their work in the National Health Service. Participants felt there was limited recognition of spirituality within the health service. They described close links between their spirituality and their ethnicities and felt that the psychospiritual support offered within the healthcare setting was not reflective of diverse ethnic and spiritual needs. Improved psychospiritual care was viewed as an opportunity to connect more deeply with other colleagues, rather than using the more individualistic interventions on offer. Participants requested greater compassion and care from leadership teams. Participants described both positive and negative changes in their spirituality as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.ConclusionsCulturally sensitive psychospiritual support is a key aspect of healthcare staff's well-being, despite identified gaps in this area. Aside from affecting physical, psychological, social and financial aspects of healthcare staff's lives, the pandemic has also had a significant impact on the ways that people experience spirituality.

Original language	English
Article number	e070409
Number of pages	9
Journal	BMJ Open
Volume	13
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-070409
Publication status	Published - 25 Apr 2023

Bibliographical note

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

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10.1136/bmjopen-2022-070409

PublishedFinal published version, 972 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "'I never leave my house without praying': a qualitative exploration of the psychospiritual experiences of ethnically diverse healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic",

abstract = "ObjectivesThe study aimed to understand the psychospiritual experiences and support needs of ethnically diverse healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.DesignA qualitative study using focus groups conducted remotely on Microsoft Teams.SettingThe study took place across 10 National Health Service Trusts in England: 5 were Acute Hospital Trusts and 5 were Community and Mental Health Trusts.ParticipantsFifty-five participants were recruited to the study across 16 focus group meetings. Participants were all National Health Service staff from ethnically diverse backgrounds.ResultsPsychospiritual concerns were central to participants' understanding of themselves and their work in the National Health Service. Participants felt there was limited recognition of spirituality within the health service. They described close links between their spirituality and their ethnicities and felt that the psychospiritual support offered within the healthcare setting was not reflective of diverse ethnic and spiritual needs. Improved psychospiritual care was viewed as an opportunity to connect more deeply with other colleagues, rather than using the more individualistic interventions on offer. Participants requested greater compassion and care from leadership teams. Participants described both positive and negative changes in their spirituality as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.ConclusionsCulturally sensitive psychospiritual support is a key aspect of healthcare staff's well-being, despite identified gaps in this area. Aside from affecting physical, psychological, social and financial aspects of healthcare staff's lives, the pandemic has also had a significant impact on the ways that people experience spirituality.",

author = "Gill, \{Harmandeep Kaur\} and Juliet Chastney and Riya Patel and Brian Nyatanga and Catherine Henshall and Guy Harrison",

note = "{\textcopyright} Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.",

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AU - Chastney, Juliet

AU - Patel, Riya

AU - Nyatanga, Brian

AU - Henshall, Catherine

AU - Harrison, Guy

N1 - © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2023. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

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N2 - ObjectivesThe study aimed to understand the psychospiritual experiences and support needs of ethnically diverse healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.DesignA qualitative study using focus groups conducted remotely on Microsoft Teams.SettingThe study took place across 10 National Health Service Trusts in England: 5 were Acute Hospital Trusts and 5 were Community and Mental Health Trusts.ParticipantsFifty-five participants were recruited to the study across 16 focus group meetings. Participants were all National Health Service staff from ethnically diverse backgrounds.ResultsPsychospiritual concerns were central to participants' understanding of themselves and their work in the National Health Service. Participants felt there was limited recognition of spirituality within the health service. They described close links between their spirituality and their ethnicities and felt that the psychospiritual support offered within the healthcare setting was not reflective of diverse ethnic and spiritual needs. Improved psychospiritual care was viewed as an opportunity to connect more deeply with other colleagues, rather than using the more individualistic interventions on offer. Participants requested greater compassion and care from leadership teams. Participants described both positive and negative changes in their spirituality as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.ConclusionsCulturally sensitive psychospiritual support is a key aspect of healthcare staff's well-being, despite identified gaps in this area. Aside from affecting physical, psychological, social and financial aspects of healthcare staff's lives, the pandemic has also had a significant impact on the ways that people experience spirituality.

AB - ObjectivesThe study aimed to understand the psychospiritual experiences and support needs of ethnically diverse healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.DesignA qualitative study using focus groups conducted remotely on Microsoft Teams.SettingThe study took place across 10 National Health Service Trusts in England: 5 were Acute Hospital Trusts and 5 were Community and Mental Health Trusts.ParticipantsFifty-five participants were recruited to the study across 16 focus group meetings. Participants were all National Health Service staff from ethnically diverse backgrounds.ResultsPsychospiritual concerns were central to participants' understanding of themselves and their work in the National Health Service. Participants felt there was limited recognition of spirituality within the health service. They described close links between their spirituality and their ethnicities and felt that the psychospiritual support offered within the healthcare setting was not reflective of diverse ethnic and spiritual needs. Improved psychospiritual care was viewed as an opportunity to connect more deeply with other colleagues, rather than using the more individualistic interventions on offer. Participants requested greater compassion and care from leadership teams. Participants described both positive and negative changes in their spirituality as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.ConclusionsCulturally sensitive psychospiritual support is a key aspect of healthcare staff's well-being, despite identified gaps in this area. Aside from affecting physical, psychological, social and financial aspects of healthcare staff's lives, the pandemic has also had a significant impact on the ways that people experience spirituality.

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