Exploring public sector physicians’ resilience, reactions and coping strategies in times of economic crisis; findings from a survey in Portugal’s capital city area

Abstract

BackgroundEvidence is accumulating on the impact of the recent economic crisis on health and health systems across Europe. However, little is known about the effect this is having on physicians - a crucial resource for the delivery of healthcare services. This paper explores the adaptation to the crisis of public sector physicians and their ability to keep performing their functions, with the objective of gaining a better understanding of health workers’ resilience under deteriorating conditions.MethodsWe conducted a survey among 484 public primary care and hospital physicians in Portugal’s capital city area and explored their perceptions of the crisis, adaptation and coping strategies. We used ordinal and logistic regression models to link changes in hours worked and intentions to migrate with physicians’ characteristics and specific answers.ResultsWe found little evidence of physicians changing their overall allocation of working time before and after the crisis, with their age, types of specialisation, valuation of job flexibility and independence significantly associated with changes in public sector hours between 2010 and 2015. Being divorced, not Portuguese, of younger age, and working a high number of hours per week, were found to increase the probability of physicians considering migration, the same as having a poor opinion of recent government health policies. On the other hand, enjoying their current working environment, not wanting to disrupt provision of service, and leisure time were found to protect against scaling down public sector hours or considering migration.ConclusionsOur work on Portuguese physicians contributes to the debate on health workers’ resilience, showing the value of understanding the influence of personal characteristics and opinions on their adaptation to changing circumstances, before designing policies to improve their working conditions and retention.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-017-2151-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Stress, coping, and psychological resilience among physicians

“…These subthemes have been explored in the literature previously as mechanisms by which physicians cope with the demands of the high-pressure, stressful profession [ 26 ]. One Portuguese study identified an association between work-life balance and a lack of resilience leading to the intention to leave work amongst public sector physicians [ 39 ]. However, it is clear that many physicians are unable to achieve such balance in their own lives due to conflicts with work and the duties required of them, reflecting how the ability to withstand stress is closely linked to context [ 40 ].…”

Resilience in medical doctors: a systematic review

“…Finally, another paper was excluded as despite its title, ("Exploring public sector physicians' resilience, reactions and coping strategies in times of economic crisis; findings from a survey in Portugal's capital city area"), it did not measure resilience but focused on working hours and intention to migrate in doctors. [18] This resulted in a final count of 24 eligible papers (Figure 1).…”

A Crise Económica em Médicos do Serviço Nacional de Saúde: Estudo Descritivo das Suas Perceções e Reações em Unidades de Saúde na Região da Grande Lisboa

“…Adicionalmente, este trabalho apresenta apenas a análise descritiva dos dados recolhidos no estudo, cuja análise detalhada é apresentada em outras publicações. 20,28 No entanto, apesar destas limitações, realizou-se um retrato de um dos maiores hospitais do país e dois ACES que servem uma elevada população da área da Grande Lisboa.…”