Culturally-tailored Peer Support for Doctors and Nurses of Indian Origin

Abstract

The mental health and well-being needs of healthcare workers have risen sharply, fuelled by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Migrant healthcare workers are affected not only by events in the country where they work but also by events in countries where their family and friends reside. Despite, increase in psychological distress, migrant HCWs don’t use the existing resources to support their needs.   This paper summarises discussions from the workshop focusing on reasons/barriers in uptake of mental health and well-being resources in the UK, the scope of peer support initiatives and its boundaries in supporting colleagues in the UK and India. Finally, it makes recommendations on the governance structure and checklist when organising peer support for healthcare workers.