Hybrid Work from Home Clinical Academic Environment: A One-Year Follow-Up Survey of Attitudes and Beliefs of Members of a Department of Palliative Care, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Medicine.

Abstract

<b><i>Context:</i></b> Palliative, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Medicine (PRIM) department members anonymously reported a positive experience with work from home (WFH) two months after its rapid pandemic transition in March 2020. Data are limited on the stability of such preferences and experiences over time. <b><i>Objectives:</i></b> The objectives of this study were to survey the attitudes and beliefs of PRIM employees toward remote work 16 months after the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic since vaccines and to determine changes in perceptions of WFH. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> All 138 PRIM employees were invited to participate in an anonymous survey from mid-July to mid-August 2021. The 30-question survey included demographics, perceptions toward WFH, and the pandemic. <b><i>Results:</i></b> One hundred fifteen (83%) employees completed the survey: 29 (74%) research, 62 (83%) clinicians, and 24 (100%) administrative personnel. Most were female (76%), 30-59 years old (88%), PRIM employees before May 2020 (89%), shared office space (52%), and had received either first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine (88%). Overall experience (86%) and emotional response (74%) with WFH were positive and not significantly different from 2020 (<i>p</i> = 0.128 and 0.782, respectively). Positive experience was associated with having adequate equipment (<i>p</i> = 0.002), perception of productivity (<i>p</i> = 0.002), financial advantage (<i>p</i> = 0.002), and time demands caring for dependents (<i>p</i> = 0.038). Clinicians reported less positive response (78%, <i>p</i> = 0.002) and less productivity (49%, <i>p</i> = 0.002) with WFH and higher level of stress (54%, <i>p</i> = 0.026) since COVID-19. Employees continued to support WFH permanently (79%) for two or more days/week (82%). There was continued increased emotional exhaustion (71%) similar to 2020 (<i>p</i> = 0.868), and being asked to work partially or completely from home permanently was favored by 64% versus 97% and 96% of clinicians, research, and administrative, respectively (<i>p</i> = 0.002). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Support for WFH was sustained a year later and after three pandemic waves. These findings serve as a model for future rapid work transitions and can help elucidate factors associated with stress and emotional exhaustion in a new post-COVID-19 work environment.