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Uncertainties around COVID-19 from the perspectives of oral health care workers during the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections in British Columbia, Canada Brondani, Mario; Almeida, Fernanda; Cua, Denise; Maragha, Tala; Mathu-Muju, Kavita; Shayanfar, Melody; von Bergmann, HsingChi; Donnelly, Leeann

Abstract

Background The first wave of COVID-19 infections caused disturbances in all aspects of personal and professional lives. The aim of this study was to explore the ways in which that first wave of novel coronavirus infections resulted in uncertainties, as experienced by members of the oral health care workforce in British Columbia, Canada. Methods This qualitative inquiry purposefully recruited frontline oral health care workers, including dentists, dental hygienists, certified dental assistants, and administrative staff, via remote semi-structured interviews between April 20 and May 4, 2020. Coding, categories, and themes were inductively assigned. Results A total of 45 interviews, lasting between 39 and 74 minutes each, were conducted involving 18 dentists (6 females), 12 dental hygienists (11 females), 6 certified dental assistants (all females), and 9 administrators/front-desk staff (7 females). Fifty-one hours of audio recordings and more than 650 single-spaced pages of transcripts were produced. Five main themes emerged pertaining to uncertainties surrounding COVID-19, patient care, personal lives and infectiousness, concern for the future, and variations among different pandemics. Certitudes were less evident, but surfaced mostly when considering a potential new normal resulting from the pandemic. Conclusion Participants indicated that the uncertainties they felt were dependent upon what is known, and unknown, about the pandemic and the provision of oral health care during the first wave of infections. Future studies are needed to include the viewpoints of oral health care workers from other provinces, as well the perceptions of patients who received oral health care during the height of the first wave of the pandemic

Item Metadata

Title
Uncertainties around COVID-19 from the perspectives of oral health care workers during the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections in British Columbia, Canada
Creator
Brondani, Mario; Almeida, Fernanda; Cua, Denise; Maragha, Tala; Mathu-Muju, Kavita; Shayanfar, Melody; von Bergmann, HsingChi; Donnelly, Leeann
Contributor
University of British Columbia. Behavioural Neuroscience
Publisher
PLoS
Date Issued
2021-04-22
Description
Background The first wave of COVID-19 infections caused disturbances in all aspects of personal and professional lives. The aim of this study was to explore the ways in which that first wave of novel coronavirus infections resulted in uncertainties, as experienced by members of the oral health care workforce in British Columbia, Canada. Methods This qualitative inquiry purposefully recruited frontline oral health care workers, including dentists, dental hygienists, certified dental assistants, and administrative staff, via remote semi-structured interviews between April 20 and May 4, 2020. Coding, categories, and themes were inductively assigned. Results A total of 45 interviews, lasting between 39 and 74 minutes each, were conducted involving 18 dentists (6 females), 12 dental hygienists (11 females), 6 certified dental assistants (all females), and 9 administrators/front-desk staff (7 females). Fifty-one hours of audio recordings and more than 650 single-spaced pages of transcripts were produced. Five main themes emerged pertaining to uncertainties surrounding COVID-19, patient care, personal lives and infectiousness, concern for the future, and variations among different pandemics. Certitudes were less evident, but surfaced mostly when considering a potential new normal resulting from the pandemic. Conclusion Participants indicated that the uncertainties they felt were dependent upon what is known, and unknown, about the pandemic and the provision of oral health care during the first wave of infections. Future studies are needed to include the viewpoints of oral health care workers from other provinces, as well the perceptions of patients who received oral health care during the height of the first wave of the pandemic
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2021-06-03
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0398242
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/78520
Affiliation
Arts, Faculty of; Dentistry, Faculty of; Oral Biological and Medical Sciences (OBMS), Department of; Oral Health Sciences (OHS), Department of; Psychology, Department of
Citation
Brondani M, Almeida F, Cua D, Maragha T, Mathu-Muju K, Shayanfar M, et al. (2021) Uncertainties around COVID-19 from the perspectives of oral health care workers during the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 infections in British Columbia, Canada. PLoS ONE 16(4): e0249186.
Publisher DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0249186
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Graduate; Undergraduate
Copyright Holder
The Authors
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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Attribution 4.0 International