Psychological therapies reduce trauma-related mental health symptoms in healthcare staff redeployed to COVID-19 intensive care units

Mental health problems among healthcare staff have been well-documented within the literature. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent redeployment of many healthcare workers to frontline settings such as Covid Intensive Care Units (ICUs), their mental health has been further adversely affected. To address this, a pilot service was developed which offered rapid assessment and trauma-focused cognitive behaviour therapy (TF-CBT) to staff redeployed to Covid ICUs during the pandemic. Aims included reducing mental health symptoms associated with psychological trauma in this cohort, and sustaining the workforce by promoting a successful return to work. Outcome measures indicated that the TF-CBT intervention led to significant improvements, with many participants who completed measures moving from moderate or severe clinical categories to mild across anxiety (48%), depression (62%) and PTSD (75%). These results generally held when accounting for reliable change. Additionally, 97% of staff returned to work following intervention. The average number of sessions provided was 4, with higher baseline anxiety being the only significant predictor of session duration. These results indicate that substantial therapeutic and functional gains can be achieved by offering staff experiencing trauma-related mental health symptoms a rapid access TF-CBT intervention within a limited timeframe. Limitations and next steps are discussed.