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Hughes AM, Arredondo K, Lester HF, Oswald FL, Pham TND, Jiang C, Hysong SJ. What can we learn from COVID-19?: examining the resilience of primary care teams. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1265529. [PMID: 38078279 PMCID: PMC10703302 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1265529] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic continues to place an unprecedented strain on the US healthcare system, and primary care is no exception. Primary care services have shifted toward a team-based approach for delivering care in the last decade. COVID-19 placed extraordinary stress on primary care teams at the forefront of the pandemic response efforts. The current work applies the science of effective teams to examine the impact of COVID-19-a crisis or adverse event-on primary care team resilience. Methods Little empirical research has been done testing the theory of team resilience during an extremely adverse crisis event in an applied team setting. Therefore, we conducted an archival study by using large-scale national data from the Veterans Health Administration to understand the characteristics and performance of 7,023 Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACTs) during COVID-19. Results Our study found that primary care teams maintained performance in the presence of adversity, indicating possible team resilience. Further, team coordination positively predicted team performance (B = 0.53) regardless of the level of adversity a team was experiencing. Discussion These findings in turn attest to the need to preserve team coordination in the presence of adversity. Results carry implications for creating opportunities for teams to learn and adjust to an adverse event to maintain performance and optimize team-member well-being. Teamwork can act as a protective factor against high levels of workload, burnout, and turnover, and should be studied further for its role in promoting team resilience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley M. Hughes
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
- Center of VHA Innovation for Complex, Chronic Healthcare, Edward Hines JR VA Hospital, Hines, IL, United States
| | - Kelley Arredondo
- Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness, and Safety, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX, United States
- Veterans’ Health Administration Office of Rural Health’s Veterans Center, White River Junction, VT, United States
- VA South Central Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (SC MIRECC), a Virtual Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Houston F. Lester
- Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Department of Management, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, United States
| | - Frederick L. Oswald
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Trang N. D. Pham
- Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Cheng Jiang
- Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness, and Safety, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Sylvia J. Hysong
- Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness, and Safety, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX, United States
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