MEDIA ADVISORY - Tele-News Conference - Now Is The Time To Prevent Mass Moral Injury

CANADIAN CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE ON POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) ANNOUNCES WAYS TO REDUCE PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF COVID-19 FOR FRONTLINE WORKERS

OTTAWA, ON, July 6, 2020 /CNW/ - The Canadian Centre of Excellence on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Related Mental Health Conditions has teamed up with the Phoenix Australia Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health to co-develop a guide for reducing mental-stress injuries in healthcare workers who are coping with workplace trauma and making wrenching moral decisions in the context of COVID-19.

Moral Stress Amongst Healthcare Workers During Covid-19: A Guide to Moral Injury draws on the wealth of scientific knowledge gained through the study of trauma and PTSD in military veterans to provide practical advice for healthcare and other frontline workers as they deal with the psychological fallout of the pandemic.

The Guide is aimed at doctors, nurses, and support workers on the front lines at hospitals, and long-term care facilities to arm them with tools for self-care. It is also for medical workers in other professions who have had to tell patients their treatments would be postponed because of the pandemic. It is for any of the people Canadians have called "heroes" for exposing themselves to potential infection to keep the rest of us healthy. 

But most importantly, it is for employers and organizations themselves, including leaders and administrators who have had to make difficult choices in deploying staff to do this exhausting and sometimes deadly work. The guide focuses on organizational supports necessary to assist our healthcare workforce through these challenging times to reduce rates of moral injury or PTSD that may develop if left unsupported.  

Dr. Patrick Smith, the CEO of the Centre of Excellence on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, says that without quick intervention, and broad-based organizational supports, these potentially traumatic events experienced by these workers can lead to moral injuries, a form of psychological distress that has debilitating and life-altering effects. Now is the time, says Dr. Smith, to implement the organizational supports required.

On Tuesday July 7th, at 10:30 a.m. EDT, the Centre of Excellence will host a teleconference news conference to discuss moral injuries among frontline workers and others dealing with COVID-19, to release the Guide, and to answer reporters' questions about this emergent and urgent healthcare issue. Dr. Smith, will be joined by Fardous Hosseiny, Vice President of Research and Policy at the Centre of Excellence; Jim Lowther, President and CEO of VETS Canada; and a frontline healthcare worker.

English Reporters: Toll-free long-distance dial-in number (Canada/US): 1-800-898-3989
Local dial-in number: 416-406-0743
Participant passcode: 8438839#

The Canadian Centre of Excellence on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Related Mental Health Conditions, located at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, is funded by Veterans Affairs Canada and was created to share knowledge and expertise about PTSD, mental health, suicide prevention, and substance abuse issues.

SOURCE Centre of Excellence on PTSD