A Resilience Program for Hospital Security Officers During the COVID-19 Pandemic Using a Community Engagement Model.

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Healthcare Management
• Psychology

Background:

• Healthcare security officers experience high stress levels.
• Existing support interventions may not meet their specific needs.
• Security personnel are often overlooked as frontline workers in healthcare settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To adapt and implement resilience and mental health awareness workshops for healthcare security officers.
• To address the gap in targeted support for this population.
• To evaluate the reception and impact of the developed program.

Main Methods:

• Utilized community engagement principles to design workshops.
• Delivered twelve short psychoeducational briefings.
• Incorporated psychological first aid and adaptive coping strategies.
• Informed by initial piloting and feedback.

Main Results:

• The program reached 107 security officers (89.5% men, 95.2% people of color).
• Qualitative and quantitative feedback indicated a generally positive reception.
• Demonstrated feasibility of delivering tailored resilience training.

Conclusions:

• Resilience and mental health awareness workshops can be effectively adapted for healthcare security officers.
• Targeted interventions are warranted to support this high-stress workforce.
• Further efforts are needed to acknowledge and support security officers as essential frontline healthcare workers.