Supporting frontline workers during the covid-19 pandemic - Support The Workers initiative

In the early stages of the covid-19 response planning, Nathan coordinated an international network of colleagues with expertise in crisis psychology, disaster response and human behaviour in extreme environments to produce evidence-based briefing notes on topics related to performance and health under stress. The briefing notes were specifically created for professionals in the NHS, but have since been used by other organisations and distributed widely via the Johnson and Johnson Institute in the United States.

Nathan describes the aims of the Support The Workers activity below:

We are in the midst of one of the most significant global challenges we have faced in many years, the covid-19 pandemic. Around the world, medical staff from many countries are working tirelessly to respond to the growing number of coronavirus cases whilst also preparing for a further inevitable surge in cases in the coming weeks. The extreme challenges that will be faced by frontline workers in the coming weeks and months means that behavioural and psychological science has an important role to play in supporting their safety, performance and health.  

The Support The Workers collective is an international group of experts in disaster response, crisis psychology, high pressure decision-making and human performance and health under conditions of extreme stress. We were tasked by those involved in responding to the covid-19 pandemic in the UK to develop a rapid evidence-based training and support curriculum for staff providing psychosocial support to frontline workers.

This work was specifically targeted at psychologists in the NHS (and those being drafted in to provide cover) to help them prepare to work under challenging conditions and equip them with the most up to date evidence-based materials on the behavioural and psychological topics relevant to the virus outbreak. We are sharing the materials we have produced in case they are useful to others in the UK and around the world.

You can learn more about Support The Workers and access the briefing notes here: https://www.supporttheworkers.org/

Image: Extreme Stressors, © R. Stevens.