Remember banging pots and pans to show solidarity with front-line workers early in the pandemic? Or the messages of thanks drawn in chalk on sidewalks? In the last few days, cute drawings from kids thanking听COVID听vaccination teams have also been brightening my听Twitter feed.听
At the same time, there鈥檚 a dark side. In recent months, we鈥檝e been witnessing a worrying escalation of online and offline threats and harassment of healthcare听professionals, with women and racialized people targeted disproportionately. Many people working in healthcare have also put their own physical and mental health at risk while caring for others.听罢丑别测鈥檝别听endured a difficult journey over the course of the pandemic, evident in high levels of stress and听experiencing symptoms of听burnout. And听the safety of the people who work in healthcare and patient safety are deeply intertwined, as the听听recognized in 2020.听听
How can we move forward, together?听听
Beyond clanging pots and pans, there are opportunities to support the safety of healthcare听professionals听in tangible ways.听Legislative and policy innovations are in progress at several levels, along with听efforts to encourage social media companies to implement concrete action plans听to address听harassment听online.听In addition, there are actions that we can take as individuals and organizations.听听
At 日本无码, we鈥檝e been putting together resources for dealing with online harassment (below) that we hope will be useful for those affected and their allies.听I hope that you haven鈥檛听experienced this problem personally, but if you have 鈥� or you know someone who has 鈥� I hope that you鈥檒l find useful tools and advice in this collection.听
- Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety -听听
- Canadian Medical Association -听听
- 听 - episode addressing threats to clinicians during the pandemic听
- IMPACT and the authors of听听on the prevalence of personal attacks and sexual harassment of physicians on social media have created social media harassment toolkit:听听听
- Registered Nurses听听Association听of Ontario听- Best Practice Guideline听听
What鈥檚 next?听听
We invite you to sign up for our newsletter and stay tuned for the details.听听
Do听you have resources to add or听insights听on dealing with online harassment in Canada听and听any other听hard-won lessons听or听tips from personally navigating these challenges that you鈥檇 like us to听help share to benefit others? Please email us at听info@hec-esc.ca.听听
