The purpose of this study was to investigate how social services workers describe, the risk of being exposed to threats and violence in their profession. Six social services workers were interviewed, four from the Welfare Office in a major city and two from the Child and Family Services in a minor city. Results showed that the majority of social services workers consider themselves exposed in their profession, meaning that they feel there's a risk of a violent or threatening situation occurring in their work situation. All interviewees had experiences from some sort of threat or violence in a work related context and they attested that non-personal assaults, such as threats made through telephone, email and answering machines are more common than verbal assaults made in personal meetings. Being prepared and listening to ones intuition is a way of dealing with exposure when meeting with a client. By working in pairs you can decrease the risk of being exposed in a violent/threatening situation. Several of the interviewees pointed out that they are more tolerant to certain clients in order to cope with their work situation.

<p>The purpose of this study was to investigate how social services workers describe, the risk of being exposed to threats and violence in their profession. Six social services workers were interviewed, four from the Welfare Office in a major city and two from the Child and Family Services in a minor city. Results showed that the majority of social services workers consider themselves exposed in their profession, meaning that they feel there's a risk of a violent or threatening situation occurring in their work situation. All interviewees had experiences from some sort of threat or violence in a work related context and they attested that non-personal assaults, such as threats made through telephone, email and answering machines are more common than verbal assaults made in personal meetings. Being prepared and listening to ones intuition is a way of dealing with exposure when meeting with a client. By working in pairs you can decrease the risk of being exposed in a violent/threatening situation. Several of the interviewees pointed out that they are more tolerant to certain clients in order to cope with their work situation.</p>

Contexte. La pandémie de la COVID-19 a amené son lot de détresse psychologique chez les travailleurs de la santé et des services sociaux (TSSS) du Québec. Ceux-ci se trouvaient déjà à risque d’éprouver des difficultés de santé mentale avant la pandémie, étant exposés à plusieurs événements critiques dans leur travail quotidien. Parallèlement à cette réalité, la pandémie a été très médiatisée et des points de presse quotidiens animés par la santé publique et le gouvernement étaient diffusés sur plusieurs plates-formes d’informations. Les études montrent que l’exposition médiatique à des traumas collectifs, tel que la COVID-19, est associée à des niveaux de détresse psychologique plus élevés chez la population générale. Les femmes sont aussi susceptibles de vivre des niveaux plus élevés de détresse psychologique que les hommes. Or, aucune étude ne fait état de l’impact de l’exposition aux médias sur la détresse psychologique vécue chez les TSSS en contexte de pandémie, ni en général. Objectifs. (1) Mesurer l’impact du degré d’exposition aux médias sur l’évolution de la détresse psychologique des TSSS pendant 37 semaines. (2) Mesurer l’effet modérateur du sexe biologique sur la relation entre le degré d’exposition aux médias et la détresse psychologique des TSSS. Méthode. Le devis est longitudinal, étant une étude de cohorte prospective. Ce sont 830 TSSS québécois qui ont participé à l’étude pendant les 1ière et 2ième vagues de la COVID-19, de mai 2020 à janvier 2021. La détresse psychologique, définie par des symptômes dépressifs et anxieux, a été mesurée à l’aide du PHQ-9 et du GAD-7. Des analyses statistiques à l’aide du modèle linéaire mixte ont été effectuées. Résultats. (1) Les TSSS qui se sont beaucoup ou énormément exposés aux médias rapportent un nombre significativement plus élevé de symptômes dépressifs que ceux étant très peu exposés. Les TSSS qui se sont beaucoup exposés aux médias rapportent un nombre significativement plus élevé de symptômes anxieux que ceux étant très peu exposés. (2) Il n’y a pas de différence significative entre les hommes et les femmes quant à la détresse psychologique vécue en fonction du degré d’exposition aux médias. Conclusions. Des campagnes de sensibilisation et d’éducation devraient être effectuées dans le réseau de la santé et des services sociaux quant à l’exposition aux médias des TSSS afin de ne pas créer de détresse psychologique inutile à ces derniers. L’exploration d’un temps limite d’exposition et du type de médias à privilégier constituent des pistes de recherches intéressantes pour la prévention de la détresse psychologique. / Context. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought its share of psychological distress to Quebec’s health and social services workers (HSSWs). These workers were already at risk of experiencing mental health issues prior to the pandemic, as they were exposed to several critical events in their daily work. Along with this reality, the pandemic was highly publicized, with daily press briefings by public health and other government officials being broadcast on several news platforms. Studies show that media exposure to mass trauma, such as COVID-19, is associated with higher levels of psychological distress in the general population. Women are also likely to experience higher levels of psychological distress than men. Yet, there are no studies reporting on the impact of media exposure on psychological distress experienced among HSSWs during the pandemic, or in general. Objectives. (1) To measure the impact of media exposure level on changes in psychological distress among HSSWs over 37 weeks. (2) To measure the moderating effect of biological sex on the relationship between media exposure level and psychological distress among HSSWs. Method. The design was longitudinal, being a prospective cohort study. A total of 830 Quebec’s HSSWs participated in the study during waves 1 and 2 of COVID-19, from May 2020 to January 2021. Psychological distress, conceptualized as depression and anxiety symptoms, was measured using the PHQ-9 and GAD-7. Statistical analyses using linear mixed models were performed. Results. (1) HSSWs who considered themselves often or greatly exposed to media reported significantly more depression symptoms than those who considered themselves rarely exposed. HSSWs who considered themselves often exposed to media reported significantly more anxiety symptoms than those who considered themselves rarely exposed. (2) There was no significant difference between men and women in experienced psychological distress as a function of media exposure level. Conclusions. Awareness and education campaigns should be carried out in the health and social services network regarding the media exposure of HSSWs in order to avoid creating unnecessary psychological distress for them. The exploration of a limit exposure time and the type of media to be favored are interesting avenues of research to prevent psychological distress.