Examining Two Psychosocial Factors in Long-Term Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Since its publication in 2013, organizations have been using the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (the Standard) as a guide for promoting mental health and preventing psychological harm at work. The Standard outlines 13 psychosocial factors in a workplace that should be assessed for risk and opportunities for improvement. Recently, these were supplemented by two additional factors that are specific to the health-care sector: (1) support for psychological self-care and (2) protection from moral distress. Support for psychological self-care is a factor that reflects the emergent focus on support for staff members’ capacity for psychological self-care when dealing with occupational stress. Protection from Moral Distress is a factor that reflects the well-documented concern in healthcare with the psychological stress experienced by staff caused by moral quandaries. With these two factors in mind, this report presents considerations for policy changes that can better support the psychological well-being of health-care professionals in Canada’s long-term care sector.