Understanding the needs of health care workers in Singapore during the COVID-19 outbreak: A qualitative analysis

Background: A successful public health response during the COVID-19 pandemic pivots on the ability of health care workers (HCWs) to work through immense workplace-related physical and psychological pressures.Objective: The aim of current study was to explore support needs of HCWs during the COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore and to identify implications for practice and workplace policies.Methods: A descriptive qualitative approach was adopted in this study. HCWs from a major public health care cluster in Singapore (n = 612) responded to an open-ended question in an online survey. Results were analyzed using content analysis via an inductive approach.Results: Five main themes that borrows from Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs emerged from content analysis, with 17 categories under the themes. The 5 main themes are: physical needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs and self-actualization needs. Conclusions: Findings from this study indicate that there were many unmet needs among HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic. An overview of various need areas identified in this study may guide future research and development of interventions to mitigate the negative impact of disease outbreaks on HCWs.(c) 2022 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.