Philippine E-Journals

Stories from the Frontline: Construals, Anxiety Level and Coping Strategies of Essential Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Charibel Matalang

Discipline: Education

 

Abstract:

This study aimed to explore the work experiences, anxiety level and coping of COVID 19 essential workers. Specifically, it identified the anxiety level, impact of the pandemic, coping strategies and work experiences of front liners. A total of 100 medical and non – medical essential workers from the cities of Ilagan, Santiago and Tuguegarao served as participants of the study. They were grouped according to sex, location of work, nature of work, marital status, religion, educational attainment and status of employment. Among them, 10 front liners were chosen to participate in the qualitative part which aimed to explore their work experiences during the pandemic. Mixed type of research method (quantitative – qualitative) was used in gathering and analyzing the data of this study. For the quantitative part, the researcher made used of both standardized questionnaire and semi – structured interview questionnaire to elicit information related to demographic profile, coping strategies, impact of the pandemic, and distress level. The researcher formulated a semi-structured questionnaire which elicited the respondent’s demographic profile, impact of the pandemic, coping styles, and their work experiences. Also, Coronavirus Pandemic Anxiety Scale (CPAS 15), a 15 – item standardized test was used to measure the distress level of essential workers during the pandemic. Participants were asked to indicate how frequent they experience the 15 anxiety symptoms using 0 - never / not at all, 1 - several days in the past two weeks, 2 - more than half the days in the past two weeks and 3 - nearly every day in the past two weeks. Results showed that majority of the essential workers who work during the COVID19 pandemic experienced severe anxiety. Also, it appeared that the pandemic impacted the essential workers in the performance of their jobs. For physical impact, respondents experienced changes in their eating and sleeping pattern. Likewise, they experienced fatigue and feelings of exhaustion at work. For cognitive impact, respondents reported high level of mental stress, worry about safety of their family and overthinking. Lastly, for socio-emotional impact, essential workers experienced higher level of fear and anxiety. This may be due to the unseen threat of the virus and the difficulty controlling its widespread. They also miss their working environment and way of life before the pandemic. They long for the company of their friends and families since most of them have to be isolated and quarantined after work to make sure that they are not infected with the virus. In battling with these effects of the pandemic, this study revealed that the coping mechanisms of the essential workers mostly revolved around leisure activities and social support. For problem-focused coping, respondents engaged in activities such as watching TV and movies, cooking and gardening to cope with stress. For emotional coping, essential workers choose to talk with a family member or a friend, spend time with family and play with their kids to stay calm and relax. Lastly, for avoidance coping, most of the respondents prefer to sleep, consume most of their time in social media and drink alcohol when they feel stressed and anxious due to their work. These activities are considered to be leisure activities and it was found from previous studies that they are effective in dealing with stress. Lastly, the work experiences of essential workers during pandemic can be described from the four themes which emerged based on the respondents’ narrative experiences. These themes are namely a) Personal appraisal of their role as front liners (additional responsibility, commitment to work, call of duty) b) Physical, cognitive and socio-emotional impact of the pandemic on wellbeing (constant fear, stress, overthinking, feelings of isolation) c) Learning to cope (adaptive coping, maladaptive coping) d) Appraisal of their social support system (family support, workplace support). COVID 19 pandemic has rapidly affected people’s day to day life particularly those who are working in the front line as they provide social, economic and health services to the public. The experiences of front line workers during COVID-19 are not unprecedented. Interventions to prevent and address mental health distress among them need to be developed and the timing, effectiveness and acceptability should be carefully evaluated.