Abigael Villanueva Daniel*

PNP Health Service, Philippine National Police, Philippines

*Corresponding Author: Abigael Villanueva Daniel, PNP Health Service, Philippine National Police, Philippines.

Received: January 03, 2023; Published: March 17, 2023

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of COVID-19-related health risks and operational work stress of Eastern Police District (EPD) frontliners on their mental health in terms of burnout, distress, anxiety, and depression. A mixed-method research was done with 938 EPD frontliners participating in the quantitative survey part, five of whom participated in the qualitative in-depth interview part. Findings revealed that frontliners with high COVID-19 related health risk are 6 times more likely to have high operational work stress. Frontliners with high operational work stress are in turn 11.61, 6.05, and 2.11 times more likely to have high burnout, distress and depression, respectively. High operational work stress strongly predicts overall mental health status as frontliners with high operational work stress 5.97 times more likely to have a high level of at least one indicator of mental health problem. Major issues/challenges identified were mixed feelings of stress mostly due to longer work hours and separation from significant others. Overall, this study provides empirical evidence on adverse effects of COVID-19 health risks and operational work stress on the mental health of EPD police frontliners during the pandemic. Recommended strategies under the action plan for a Mental Health Program for the PNP in the New Normal are proactive measures and resiliency building through Annual Mental Health Check-In Retreat and Research-based Mental Health First Aid Course as well as strategies to improve mental health seeking behaviors through a functional mental health surveillance system using an innovative mental health app.

Keywords: Police Frontliners; COVID-19 Health Risk; Work Stress; Mental Health

References

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Citation

Citation: Abigael Villanueva Daniel. “Effects of Health Risks and Operational Work Stress to Eastern Police District Police Officers During Covid 19 Pandemic”.Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 7.4 (2023): 104-126.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2022 Abigael Villanueva Daniel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.