Dataset Information

Socioeconomic and Psychosocial Adversities Experienced by Freelancers Working in the UK Cultural Sector During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study.

ABSTRACT: There are concerns that the socioeconomic consequences of COVID-19, including unemployment and financial insecurity, are having adverse effects on the mental wellbeing of the population. One group particularly vulnerable to socioeconomic adversity during this period are those employed freelance within the cultural industry. Many workers in the sector were already subject to income instability, erratic work schedules and a lack of economic security before the pandemic, and it is possible that COVID-19 may exacerbate pre-existing economic precarity. Through interviews with 20 freelancers working within the performing arts, visual arts, and film and television industries, this article explores the impact of the pandemic on their working lives. Findings suggest the pandemic is affecting the psychological wellbeing of freelancers through employment loss, financial instability and work dissonance, and illustrates the need for urgent economic and psychosocial support for those employed within the cultural sector.

SUBMITTER: May T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8823168 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Socioeconomic and Psychosocial Adversities Experienced by Freelancers Working in the UK Cultural Sector During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study.

May Tom T Warran Katey K Burton Alexandra A Fancourt Daisy D

Frontiers in psychology 20220113

There are concerns that the socioeconomic consequences of COVID-19, including unemployment and financial insecurity, are having adverse effects on the mental wellbeing of the population. One group particularly vulnerable to socioeconomic adversity during this period are those employed freelance within the cultural industry. Many workers in the sector were already subject to income instability, erratic work schedules and a lack of economic security before the pandemic, and it is possible that COV ...[more]

PMID: 35145444

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Project description:BackgroundThe Covid-19 pandemic led to increased work-related strain and psychosocial burden in nurses worldwide, resulting in high prevalences of mental health problems. Nurses in long-term care facilities seem to be especially affected by the pandemic. Nevertheless, there are few findings indicating possible positive changes for health care workers. Therefore, we investigated which psychosocial burdens and potential positive aspects nurses working in long-term care facilities experience during the Covid-19 pandemic.MethodsWe conducted a mixed-methods study among nurses and nursing assistants working in nursing homes in Germany. The survey contained the third German version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ III). Using Welch's t-tests, we compared the COPSOQ results of our sample against a pre-pandemic reference group of geriatric nurses from Germany. Additionally, we conducted semi-structured interviews with geriatric nurses with a special focus on psychosocial stress, to reach a deeper understanding of their experiences on work-related changes and burdens during the pandemic. Data were analysed using thematic coding (Braun and Clarke).ResultsOur survey sample (n = 177) differed significantly from the pre-pandemic reference group in 14 out of 31 COPSOQ scales. Almost all of these differences indicated negative changes. Our sample scored significantly worse regarding the scales 'quantitative demands', 'hiding emotions', 'work-privacy conflicts', 'role conflicts', 'quality of leadership', 'support at work', 'recognition', 'physical demands', 'intention to leave profession', 'burnout', 'presenteeism' and 'inability to relax'. The interviews (n = 15) revealed six main themes related to nurses' psychosocial stress: 'overall working conditions', 'concern for residents', 'management of relatives', 'inability to provide terminal care', 'tensions between being infected and infecting others' and 'technicisation of care'. 'Enhanced community cohesion' (interviews), 'meaning of work' and 'quantity of social relations' (COPSOQ III) were identified as positive effects of the pandemic.ConclusionsResults clearly illustrate an aggravation of geriatric nurses' situation and psychosocial burden and only few positive changes due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Pre-existing hardships seem to have further deteriorated and new stressors added to nurses' strain. The perceived erosion of care, due to an overemphasis of the technical in relation to the social and emotional dimensions of care, seems to be especially burdensome to geriatric nurses.

Project description:ObjectivesTo study the overall disease prevalence, and associations between demographic, socioeconomic, psychosocial, and health-related factors, and self-reporting one or more long-term health conditions (LTCs) in a working-age inner-city population.DesignCross-sectional household-based survey with a follow-up timepoint.SettingSouth-East London Community Health survey data.Participants893 adults aged 16-64 years living in Lambeth and Southwark, London.Outcome measuresPrevalence estimates of individual and multiple LTCs. Multinomial logistic regression was used to analyse the association of demographic, socioeconomic, psychosocial and health-related indicators with having one and multiple LTCs at two timepoints.ResultsMore than one third of participants reported at least one LTC, with the most prevalent being musculoskeletal conditions and asthma. The prevalence of one LTC at both timepoints was 20.6% and 21.4%, and of multimorbidity was 14.0% and 16.4%. At both timepoints, the 35-44 age group showed the largest increase in prevalence of one LTC compared with the preceding age group (16-34). After adjusting for age and gender, small social networks and a larger number of stressful life events were associated with increased risk of having both one and multiple LTCs. The risk of multimorbidity was greater than for initial LTCs for small social networks (3.8 (95% CI: 1.8 to 7.8) compared with 2.0 (95% CI: 1.0 to 3.9)), and three to five stressful life events (3.0 (95% CI: 1.7 to 5.3) compared with 1.5 (95% CI 1.0 to 2.2)).ConclusionsIn this study, the prevalence of multimorbidity increased more than the prevalence of one LTC between the two timepoints, indicating a progression of the overall disease prevalence over time. The 35-44 age group showed the greatest increase in the number of initial LTCs which support health-promotion interventions targeting younger age groups. Focusing on increasing social support networks and treating the psychological impact of stressful life events may also be of benefit.

Dataset Information

Socioeconomic and Psychosocial Adversities Experienced by Freelancers Working in the UK Cultural Sector During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study.

Publications

Socioeconomic and Psychosocial Adversities Experienced by Freelancers Working in the UK Cultural Sector During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study.

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