Abstract

Objectives: The main objectives of the study were to determine the magnitude of violence experienced by health-care workers (HCWs) working in COVID 19 healthcare facilities, learn from the experiences of HCWs and persons accompanying the patients and identify interventions that can help in protecting HCWs.

Methodology: This was a mixed-methods study with a concurrent triangulation design. A cross sectional survey was conducted with 356 HCWs including doctors, paramedics and laboratory technicians in 24 COVID-19 healthcare facilities in three provincial capital cities of Pakistan. To explore the experiences of HCWs regarding violence and stigma associated with treating COVID-19 patients, eighteen in-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted with doctors and laboratory technicians. To explore the positive and negative perceptions of community, 15 IDIs were conducted with general public and persons accompanying the admitted patients.

Results: Overall 41.9% reported having experienced some form of violence in the last two months. More commonly experienced forms of violence included verbal (33.1%), being falsely accused (12.9%), being stigmatized (12.4%) while less commonly reported forms included physical violence (6.5%) and being threatened (6.2%). According to experiences of the interviewees, the root cause of violence was the misconception spread on social media that COVID-19 was a conspiracy and people were being unnecessarily tested and admitted.

Conclusion: A high proportion of HCWs shared their experiences of violence against them during the peak days of the outbreak. Specific strategies need to be adopted to protect the frontline workers which include dispelling the existing myths and improving gaps in quality of care.

Keywords: COVID 19 Care; Health workers; Violence; Safety and security