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Volume 19
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10.3390/ijerph19010568
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Article

Qualitative Investigation into the Mental Health of Healthcare Workers in Japan during the COVID-19 Pandemic

by
Yasuhiro Kotera
1,*,
Akihiko Ozaki
2,3,
Hirotomo Miyatake
4,
Chie Tsunetoshi
5,
Yoshitaka Nishikawa
6,
Makoto Kosaka
4 and
Tetsuya Tanimoto
3
1
School of Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2HA, UK
2
Department of Breast Surgery, Jyoban Hospital of Tokiwa Foundation, Iwaki 972-8322, Japan
3
Medical Governance Research Institute, Tokyo 108-0074, Japan
4
Orange Home-Care Clinic, Fukui 910-0018, Japan
5
Department of Community Health Nursing, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1104, Japan
6
Department of Health Informatics, Kyoto University School of Public Health, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(1), 568; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010568
Submission received: 8 November 2021 / Revised: 2 January 2022 / Accepted: 2 January 2022 / Published: 5 January 2022
Review Reports Versions Notes

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the mental health of healthcare workers in many countries including Japan. While many survey-based findings have reported the serious state of their wellbeing among healthcare workers, the first-hand experience of the mental health and coping in this population remains to be evaluated. Accordingly, this study aimed to appraise them using constructionist thematic analysis on semi-structured interviews attended by a purposive and snowball sample of 24 healthcare workers in Japan conducted in December 2020–January 2021. Four themes were identified: (1) increased stress and loneliness, (2) reduced coping strategies, (3) communication and acknowledgement as a mental health resource, and (4) understanding of self-care. Participants noted that the characteristics of Japanese work culture such as long hours, collectivism and hatarakigai (i.e., meaning in work) to explain these themes. These findings suggest that robust support at an organizational and individual level, capturing intrinsic values, are particularly important for this key workforce to cope with increased stress and loneliness, leading to better patient care.
Keywords: healthcare workers; Japan; mental health; COVID-19; coping; intrinsic rewards; self-care healthcare workers; Japan; mental health; COVID-19; coping; intrinsic rewards; self-care

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Kotera, Y.; Ozaki, A.; Miyatake, H.; Tsunetoshi, C.; Nishikawa, Y.; Kosaka, M.; Tanimoto, T. Qualitative Investigation into the Mental Health of Healthcare Workers in Japan during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 568. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010568

AMA Style

Kotera Y, Ozaki A, Miyatake H, Tsunetoshi C, Nishikawa Y, Kosaka M, Tanimoto T. Qualitative Investigation into the Mental Health of Healthcare Workers in Japan during the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(1):568. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010568

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kotera, Yasuhiro, Akihiko Ozaki, Hirotomo Miyatake, Chie Tsunetoshi, Yoshitaka Nishikawa, Makoto Kosaka, and Tetsuya Tanimoto. 2022. "Qualitative Investigation into the Mental Health of Healthcare Workers in Japan during the COVID-19 Pandemic" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 1: 568. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010568

APA Style

Kotera, Y., Ozaki, A., Miyatake, H., Tsunetoshi, C., Nishikawa, Y., Kosaka, M., & Tanimoto, T. (2022). Qualitative Investigation into the Mental Health of Healthcare Workers in Japan during the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(1), 568. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010568

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