TY - JOUR
T1 - “If You Don’t Have the Heart to Help, You Cannot Do This Job”
T2 - The Multidimensional Wellbeing of Community Health Workers Serving Refugees During the COVID-19 Pandemic
AU - Schuster, Roseanne C.
AU - Wachter, Karin
AU - McRae, Kenna
AU - McDaniel, Anne
AU - Davis, Olga I.
AU - Nizigiyimana, Jeanne
AU - Johnson-Agbakwu, Crista E.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.
PY - 2024/2
Y1 - 2024/2
N2 - Community health workers are members of two groups whose short- and long-term health has been uniquely shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic: health workers and the oft-marginalized populations that they serve. Yet, their wellbeing, particularly of those serving resettled refugees, before and during the pandemic has been largely overlooked. Drawing from a holistic conceptualization of wellness, this study examined the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on a group of cultural health navigators (CHNs), who serve resettled refugees. We conducted semi-structured individual interviews with CHNs at a southwestern U.S. hospital system between July and August 2020, a critical time in the pandemic. Our analysis produced four themes that encapsulate the effects of the pandemic on CHN wellbeing: (1) “You fear for your life”: Chronic risk of COVID-19 exposure takes a toll on physical, emotional, and environmental wellbeing; (2) “It is stressful because it is completely new”: Uncertainty diminishes occupational, financial, and emotional wellbeing; (3) “If you don’t have the heart to help, you cannot do this job”: CHNs remain committed while facing challenges to their occupational wellbeing on multiple fronts; and (4) “Now, you cannot release your stress”: Loss of and shifts in outlets integral to social and spiritual wellbeing. The findings deepen empirical understanding of how the pandemic affected the holistic wellbeing of CHNs, as they continued to serve their communities in a time of crisis. We discuss the implications for addressing the multidimensionality of community health worker wellbeing in research, policy, and practice.
AB - Community health workers are members of two groups whose short- and long-term health has been uniquely shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic: health workers and the oft-marginalized populations that they serve. Yet, their wellbeing, particularly of those serving resettled refugees, before and during the pandemic has been largely overlooked. Drawing from a holistic conceptualization of wellness, this study examined the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on a group of cultural health navigators (CHNs), who serve resettled refugees. We conducted semi-structured individual interviews with CHNs at a southwestern U.S. hospital system between July and August 2020, a critical time in the pandemic. Our analysis produced four themes that encapsulate the effects of the pandemic on CHN wellbeing: (1) “You fear for your life”: Chronic risk of COVID-19 exposure takes a toll on physical, emotional, and environmental wellbeing; (2) “It is stressful because it is completely new”: Uncertainty diminishes occupational, financial, and emotional wellbeing; (3) “If you don’t have the heart to help, you cannot do this job”: CHNs remain committed while facing challenges to their occupational wellbeing on multiple fronts; and (4) “Now, you cannot release your stress”: Loss of and shifts in outlets integral to social and spiritual wellbeing. The findings deepen empirical understanding of how the pandemic affected the holistic wellbeing of CHNs, as they continued to serve their communities in a time of crisis. We discuss the implications for addressing the multidimensionality of community health worker wellbeing in research, policy, and practice.
KW - community health
KW - cultural health navigator
KW - occupational wellbeing
KW - pandemic
KW - refugee
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85176802510&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85176802510&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/10497323231209836
DO - 10.1177/10497323231209836
M3 - Article
C2 - 37950593
AN - SCOPUS:85176802510
SN - 1049-7323
VL - 34
SP - 183
EP - 194
JO - Qualitative Health Research
JF - Qualitative Health Research
IS - 3
ER -