May 4, 2020 - A new survey will examine the emotional, physical and occupational experiences of health workers as they contend with the challenges of battling COVID-19, the novel coronavirus.

The Health Worker Data Alliance survey tracks the well-being and workplace environmental stressors for doctors, nurses, technicians and ancillary staff throughout the country, with a goal of aggregating data at the metropolitan area level. The four-minute survey can be taken weekly, providing a unique set of data that captures insights regarding health workers' occupational, physical and psychological health. The survey is available online here: www.healthworkerdata.org/survey

"Our nation's health workforce is our most critical, vulnerable, and finite resource. We can eventually produce more masks, but it is far harder to produce more physicians and nurses." said Maria Demopoulos, project director for the Health Worker Data Alliance. "Health workers are three times more likely to contract COVID-19. At present, we lack data across institutions on the physical, mental, and occupational wellbeing of health workers. We need this data to understand and make smarter decisions to support the physical and mental wellbeing of our health workforce. This information will inform health officials, policymakers and hospitals on how to evaluate the response and adapt in real time."

Listening to Healthcare Workers, Informing Policymakers

Funded in part by a grant from The Robert R. McCormick Foundation and 8th Light, data from this effort is available at no cost to hospitals and healthcare organizations, and the public. "This effort is vital as it will provide hospital administrators and health associations indicators on their staff or membership that highlight their physical and mental health conditions and needs, including burnout," said Rebekah Levin, Director of Evaluation for the McCormick Foundation.

Healthcare entities can register at the Alliance website (www.healthcaredata.org ) to access anonymous, aggregated data in real-time dashboards and in static reports specific to their organization, free of charge. Organizations can also access tools to encourage their employees to participate in the study.

"This is information that can only be captured in the midst of the pandemic," said Demopoulos. "But it has the opportunity to impact and inform rapidly changing policies across institutions and at a regional level."