General wellbeing and work impacts among community pharmacists during crisis management
Hanan Khalil
A * , Chaojie Liu A , Leila Karimi A B , J. Adamm Ferrier A , Zhanming Liang C and Sandra Leggat A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Psychology and Public Health, Department of Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Vic. 3086, Australia.
B School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, Department of Psychology, RMIT University, Melbourne, Vic., Australia.
C College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4810, Australia.
* Correspondence to: h.khalil@latrobe.edu.au
Australian Journal of Primary Health 29(1) 56-63 https://doi.org/10.1071/PY22007
Submitted: 20 January 2022 Accepted: 26 September 2022 Published: 26 October 2022
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of La Trobe University. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Background: Community pharmacists are highly accessible for advice, as most pharmacies are open long hours and no appointment is needed. Community pharmacists, as essential community health workers, play a critical role in the fight against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study aimed to determine the general wellbeing and work impacts of pharmacists and the factors important for adaptability and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: This study adopted a cross-sectional design. Community pharmacists from various professional networks in Australia were invited through emails and social media posts to complete an anonymous online survey during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Victoria, Australia.
Results: Sixty-five community pharmacists completed the online survey. The respondents reported fair levels of general wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a mean self-related health score of 33.57 (s.d. = 13.19) out of a maximal of 96, despite relatively high levels of job stress and emotional labour. Lower levels of general wellbeing were correlated with higher levels of job stress (r = 0.645, P < 0.01) and emotional labour (r = 0.513, P < 0.01), and lower levels of occupational self-efficacy (r = −0.566, P < 0.01). Leader member exchange was negatively correlated with job stress (r = −0.419, P < 0.01) and positively correlated with psychological safety (r = 0.693, P < 0.01). The linear regression models showed that female pharmacists had lower occupational self-efficacy (β = −0.286, P = 0.024), but higher psychological safety (β = 0.234, P = 0.042). Higher work ability was associated with lower job stress (β = −0.529, P < 0.001), higher occupational self-efficacy (β = 0.511, P = 0.001), and poorer self-related health (β = −0.659, P < 0.001).
Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of a supportive work environment in helping community pharmacists to feel psychologically safe and reduce stress during a crisis.
Keywords: community pharmacists, human resource management, leader member exchange, occupational self-efficacy, pandemic, pharmacy services, psychological safety, wellbeing.
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