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"If You Don't Have the Heart to Help, You Cannot Do This Job": The Multidimensional Wellbeing of Community Health Workers Serving Refugees During the COVID-19 Pandemic

dc.contributor.authorSchuster, Roseanne C
dc.contributor.authorWachter, Karin
dc.contributor.authorMcRae, Kenna
dc.contributor.authorMcDaniel, Anne
dc.contributor.authorDavis, Olga I
dc.contributor.authorNizigiyimana, Jeanne
dc.contributor.authorJohnson-Agbakwu, Crista E
dc.date.accessioned2023-12-05T20:57:38Z
dc.date.available2023-12-05T20:57:38Z
dc.date.issued2023-11-11
dc.identifier.citationSchuster RC, Wachter K, McRae K, McDaniel A, Davis OI, Nizigiyimana J, Johnson-Agbakwu CE. "If You Don't Have the Heart to Help, You Cannot Do This Job": The Multidimensional Wellbeing of Community Health Workers Serving Refugees During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Qual Health Res. 2023 Nov 11:10497323231209836. doi: 10.1177/10497323231209836. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37950593.en_US
dc.identifier.issn1049-7323
dc.identifier.doi10.1177/10497323231209836en_US
dc.identifier.pmid37950593
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/52848
dc.description.abstractCommunity health workers are members of two groups whose short- and long-term health has been uniquely shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic: health workers and the oft-marginalized populations that they serve. Yet, their wellbeing, particularly of those serving resettled refugees, before and during the pandemic has been largely overlooked. Drawing from a holistic conceptualization of wellness, this study examined the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on a group of cultural health navigators (CHNs), who serve resettled refugees. We conducted semi-structured individual interviews with CHNs at a southwestern U.S. hospital system between July and August 2020, a critical time in the pandemic. Our analysis produced four themes that encapsulate the effects of the pandemic on CHN wellbeing: (1) "You fear for your life": Chronic risk of COVID-19 exposure takes a toll on physical, emotional, and environmental wellbeing; (2) "It is stressful because it is completely new": Uncertainty diminishes occupational, financial, and emotional wellbeing; (3) "If you don't have the heart to help, you cannot do this job": CHNs remain committed while facing challenges to their occupational wellbeing on multiple fronts; and (4) "Now, you cannot release your stress": Loss of and shifts in outlets integral to social and spiritual wellbeing. The findings deepen empirical understanding of how the pandemic affected the holistic wellbeing of CHNs, as they continued to serve their communities in a time of crisis. We discuss the implications for addressing the multidimensionality of community health worker wellbeing in research, policy, and practice.en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.relation.ispartofQualitative Health Researchen_US
dc.relation.urlhttps://doi.org/10.1177/10497323231209836en_US
dc.subjectcommunity healthen_US
dc.subjectcultural health navigatoren_US
dc.subjectoccupational wellbeingen_US
dc.subjectpandemicen_US
dc.subjectrefugeeen_US
dc.title"If You Don't Have the Heart to Help, You Cannot Do This Job": The Multidimensional Wellbeing of Community Health Workers Serving Refugees During the COVID-19 Pandemicen_US
dc.typeJournal Articleen_US
dc.source.journaltitleQualitative health research
dc.source.beginpage10497323231209836
dc.source.endpage
dc.source.countryUnited States
dc.identifier.journalQualitative health research
dc.contributor.departmentObstetrics and Gynecologyen_US
dc.contributor.departmentPopulation and Quantitative Health Sciencesen_US


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