The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the mental health of people in Japan. Healthcare workers (HCWs) especially suffered from poor mental health, engaging with COVID-19 patients while protecting themselves from infection. However, a long-term assessment of their mental health in comparison to the general population remains to be conducted. This study evaluated and compared changes in mental health between these two populations over a six-month period. Measures of mental health, loneliness, hope and self-compassion were completed at baseline and at six-month follow-up. Two-way MANOVA (Time x Group) identified that no interaction effects were present. However, at baseline, HCWs had higher levels of mental health problems and loneliness, and lower levels of hope and self-compassion than the general population. Furthermore, a higher level of loneliness was found in HCWs at six months. These findings highlight strong feelings of loneliness in HCWs in Japan. Interventions such as digital social prescribing are recommended.
Keywords: COVID-19; Healthcare workers; Hope; Loneliness; Mental health; Self-compassion.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023.