A rapid assessment of migrant careworkers’ psychosocial status during Israel’s COVID-19 lockdown

Abstract

Background Israel hosts nearly 70,000 migrant careworkers. Migrant careworkers work and live with populations extremely vulnerable to the novel Coronavirus, including the elderly and people with pre-existing physical conditions. This rapid assessment aimed to explore psychosocial status and mental wellbeing of migrant careworkers in Israel during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and determine risk and protective factors associated with mental distress, anxiety, and depression. Methods This quantitative study was conducted via an online survey. The online survey collected social and demographic data, including country of origin, residence, age, sex, and time in Israel. In addition, questions were asked about knowledge of COVID-19 guidelines, access to supplies, and COVID-related racism. Respondents also completed a psychosocial screening tools, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-10 (HSCL-10), which was used to screen for depression and anxiety. Results As of May 3rd, 2020, 307 careworkers responded to the online survey, of whom 120 (39.1%) were found symptomatic using the HSCL-10. Separating the HSCL-10 into subscales, 28.0% were symptomatically anxious, and 38.1% were symptomatic for depression. In multivariate regression, emotional distress was associated with household food insecurity (OR: 5.85; p < 0.001), lack of confidence to care for oneself and employer during the pandemic (OR: 3.85; p < 0.001), poorer general health (OR: 2.98; p < 0.003), non-Philippine country of origin (OR: 2.83; p < 0.01), female sex (OR: 2.34; p < 0.04),, and inversely associated with age (p < 0.03). While 87.6% of careworkers reported having access to hand sanitization materials regularly, only 58.0% had regular access to a medical grade mask, and 21.5% reported household food insecurity. Moreover, 40.0% of careworkers claimed to lack confidence to care for themselves and their employer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions Migrant careworkers exhibited high levels of mental distress during the COVID-19 lockdown, associated with lack of confidence or resources to properly care for themselves and their employer. Guidelines and support programs specific to the carework sector, that respect their rights and guard their health, must be developed as part of a coordinated COVID-19 response.

Prevalence of common mental health issues among migrant workers: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Two studies were conducted in each of these countries: Singapore [ 43 , 44 ], Hong Kong [ 45 , 46 ], Italy [ 47 , 48 ], The United States of America [ 49 , 50 ], Spain [ 51 , 52 ] and United Kingdom [ 53 , 54 ]. The remaining studies were conducted in Israel [ 55 ], India [ 56 ], South Korea [ 57 ], Malaysia [ 58 ], Thailand [ 59 ], Japan [ 60 ], Norway [ 61 ], Ethiopia [ 62 ], Chile [ 63 ] and China [ 64 ].…”

“…The articles’ scores range from seven to nine stars. Of the 18 studies, 17 could be regarded as good quality [ 38 , 39 , 41 – 43 , 46 , 48 , 54 , 55 – 57 , 59 – 64 ] and only one was scored to be of poor quality [ 58 ]. The summary of study quality for longitudinal studies assessed using the NOS scale was presented in Table 2 .…”

“…Six studies found the effect of age on the mental well-being of the migrant workers [ 43 , 55 – 57 , 61 , 64 ]. Chen et al [ 64 ] reported in their findings that the prevalence of mental health issue was higher among younger group of migrant workers (25–39 years old) (M = 6.96, SD = 4.67, p = .008).…”

Psychiatric emergency admissions during and after COVID-19 lockdown: short-term impact and long-term implications on mental health

“…This phenomenon might be attributed to the accumulating healthcare burden in this demographic group throughout the pandemic, particularly during the lockdown period, where the impact has been demonstrably prominent. For example, studies focusing on migrants reported an increase in mental health disorders in this demographic [ 40 , 41 ]. Sanitary measures associated with the lockdown have brought the lives of many migrants to a standstill as they faced increased precariousness, financial constraints, and stigmatization by the non-migrant community.…”

Migrant workers occupational health research: an OMEGA-NET working group position paper

“…They faced poorer access to health care; job and wage loss, accommodation insecurity, difficulties in finding basic food and hygiene needs and anxiety about family members living in different countries (Adhikari et al 2020 ; Kluge et al 2020 ). Migrant health care professionals had a high level of mental distress and poor general health associated with limited access to personal protective equipment (Attal et al 2020 ).…”