Investigation on Community Distress Level During COVID-19 Pandemic for Data Driven Policy Making in Health Care Management

In order for the policy makers to design and fulfill suitable interventions in community’s psychological management which affected by Covid-19 pandemic, it is necessary to monitor all information about different groups of community in quickly, comprehensive and classified manner at different times. The aim of this study is to develop a questionnaire to evaluate distress level, like this. Considering the RIU knowledge transfer model and using a researcher-designed questionnaire to assess distress level in the general population and health care workers, an online survey was conducted in the summer of 2019 in Tehran province. In the general population, in the study period, all independent variables, including socio-economic stress, respect to health protocols, trust in healthcare officials and job distress of medical staff, have significant effects on general distress. The socio-economic stress variable had the greatest effect. The regression model resulted from this study allows the policymaker to estimate the general distress level of the society according to the independent variables studied. Despite the high effect of stressors, the level of psychological resilience of the study population is acceptable during the study period and they still trust in healthcare officials and respect health protocols. However, considering the differences in the findings of various studies on distress level and its strengthening factors, show the need for accurate and continuous monitoring of societal changes in at different times of the pandemic.