Background: The incidence of mental illness has risen since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The number of healthcare workers (HCWs) needing mental health support has increased significantly.Objective: This secondary analysis of qualitative data explored the coping strategies of migrant HCWs living in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our aim was to identify the coping strategies used by migrant HCWs, and how they could be explored post-pandemic as support mechanisms of an increasingly diverse workforce.Method: As part of the United Kingdom Research study into Ethnicity And COVID-19 outcomes among Healthcare workers (UK-REACH), we conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews and focus groups with clinical and non-clinical HCWs across the UK, on Microsoft Teams, from December 2020 to July 2021. We conducted a thematic analysis using Braun and Clarke's framework to explore the lived experiences of HCWs born overseas and living in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. The key themes that emerged were described using Lazarus and Folkman's transactional model of stress and coping.Results: The emerging themes include stressors (situation triggering stress), appraisal (situation acknowledged as a source of stress), emotion-focused coping (family and social support and religious beliefs), problem-focused coping (engaging in self-care, seeking and receiving professional support), and coping strategy outcomes. The participants described the short-term benefit of the coping strategies as a shift in focus from COVID-19, which reduced their anxiety and stress levels. However, the long-term impact is unknown.Conclusion: We found that some migrant HCWs struggled with their mental health and used various coping strategies during the pandemic. With an increasingly diverse healthcare workforce, it will be beneficial to explore how coping strategies (family and social support networks, religion, self-care, and professional support) could be used in the future and how occupational policies and infrastructure can be adapted to support these communities.
Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Healthcare workers; Trabajadores de la salud; coping strategies; estrategias de afrontamiento; mental health; migrant; migrantes; pandemia por la COVID-19; salud mental.
Migrant (non-UK-born) HCWs used various coping strategies to sustain their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.The study conceptualized the coping mechanisms that enabled participants to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, using Lazarus and Folkman's transactional model of stress and coping.Future research should explore whether short-term gains due to coping during the pandemic were maintained in the long term.