About The Program
The COVID-19 HEalth caRe wOrkErS (HEROES) study is an ongoing, global initiative, aimed at evaluating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of clinical and non-clinical health-care workers in more than 20 countries. HEROES was originally conceived, developed, and scaled by a team of early career collaborators mentored by Drs. Ezra Susser at Columbia University and Rubén Alvarado at the University of Chile. The study is still mostly driven by these collaborators, many of whom are from or live in LMICs. Our team approach is based on cooperative leadership and mutual learning principles, which, we believe, has contributed to creating a truly collaborative and friendly relationship between investigators from the South (Latin America, Africa, and Asia) and the North (the US, Europe). For instance, most of our research materials (e.g., web-based survey, study protocol) have been designed, translated, and adapted almost simultaneously in all the participating countries and close partnership between LMIC and HIC teams. The bulk of this work has been done by young investigators, who are more likely to establish horizontal relationships, which would have been difficult to achieve in a more standard research setting. We believe that this unusual but highly valuable arrangement contributes to reimagining the South-North collaborations and transforming the usual power structures and practices in Global Mental Health.
If interested in this program, please contact Franco Mascayano ([email protected])
References
- Mascayano F, van der Ven E, Moro MF, Schilling S, Alarcón S, Al Barathie J, Alnasser L, Asaoka H, Ayinde O, Balalian AA, Basagoitia A. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of healthcare workers: study protocol for the COVID-19 HEalth caRe wOrkErS (HEROES) study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. 2022 Jan 22:1-3.
- *Rivera-Segarra E, *Mascayano F, Alnasser L, van der Ven E, Martínez-Alés G, Durand-Arias S, Moro MF, Karam E, Hernández-Torres R, Alarcón S, Ramos-Pibernus A. Global mental health research and practice: a decolonial approach. The Lancet Psychiatry. 2022 Apr 7.
- Tenório Correia Silva A, Mascayano F, Valeri L, de Medeiros Junior E, Pimenta e Souza M, Ballester D, Tavares Cavalcanti M, Martínez-Alés G, Moro MF, van der Ven E, Alvarado R, Susser E. COVID-19 pandemic factors and depression among primary care workers in Sao Paulo, Brazil. American Journal of Public Health.
- Mediavilla R, Fernández-Jiménez E, Martínez-Alés G, Moreno-Küstner B, Martínez-Morata I, Jaramillo F, Morán-Sánchez I, Minué S, Torres-Cantero A, Alvarado R, Ayuso-Mateos JL. Role of access to personal protective equipment, treatment prioritization decisions, and changes in job functions on health workers’ mental health outcomes during the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2021 Dec 1;295:405-9.
- Paniagua-Avila, A., Ramirez-Flores, D., Barrera-Perez, A., Calgua-Guerra, E., Castro, C., Peralta-Garcia, A., Mascayano, F., Susser, E., Alvarado, R., Puac-Polanco, V. Mental health of Guatemalan health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Journal of Public Health, in press.
- Mediavilla R, Fernández-Jiménez E, Andreo J, Morán-Sánchez I, Muñoz-Sanjosé A, Moreno-Küstner B, Mascayano F, Ayuso-Mateos JL, Bravo-Ortiz MF, Martínez-Alés G, COVID T. Association between perceived discrimination and mental health outcomes among health workers during the initial COVID-19 outbreak. Revista de Psiquiatria y Salud mental. 2021 Jun 18.
- Alvarado R, Ramírez J, Cortés M, Aguirre J, Bedregal P, Allel K, Tapia-muñoz T, Burrone MS, Cuadra-Malinarich G, Goycolea R, Mascayano F. El impacto de la pandemia de COVID-19 en la salud mental de los trabajadores de la salud en Chile: datos iniciales de The Health Care Workers Study. [Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of healthcare workers in Chile: preliminary results from The Health Care Workers Study]. Revista Médica de Chile. 2021 Aug;149(8):1205-14.
- Czepiel D, Hoek H, van der Markt A, Rutten B, Veling W, Schirmbeck F, Mascayano F, Susser E, van der Ven E. The Association Between Exposure to COVID-19 and Mental Health Outcomes Among Healthcare Workers. Frontiers in Public Health.
- Moro MF, Calamandrei G, Poli R, Mattei V, Perra A, Kurotschka PK, Restrepo A, Romano F, La Torre G, Preti E, Mascayano F, Picardi A, Chiarotti F, Rapisarda V, Urban A, Alvarado R, Susser E, Carta MG. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of healthcare workers in Italy: Analyzing the role of individual and workplace-level factors in the reopening phase after lockdown. Frontiers in Psychiatry.
- Mediavilla R, Fernandez-Jimenez E, Martinez-Morata I, Jaramillo F, Andreo-Jover J, Moran-Sanchez I, Mascayano F, Moreno-Kustner B, Minue S, Ayuso-Mateos JL, Bryant RA. Sustained negative mental health outcomes among healthcare workers over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: a prospective cohort study. International Journal of Public Health.
