Déterminer l’impact psychologique chez les professionnels des cellules d’urgence médico-psychologiques (CUMP) du dispositif de soutien à la population française lors de la crise sanitaire de COVID-19.

Les professionnels des CUMP (n=313) ont participé à une enquête en ligne évaluant les difficultés rencontrées dans le dispositif, leur niveau de satisfaction, les niveaux d’anxiété, de dépression, de stress post-traumatique, d’épuisement professionnel, ainsi que les stratégies d’adaptation.

Nous retrouvons peu de difficultés émotionnelles significatives mais des scores plus élevés chez les femmes, chez les professionnels ayant ressenti des contraintes sur leur vie personnelle ainsi que chez ceux qui pensaient avoir été contaminés par le COVID-19. Certaines stratégies d’adaptation (coping actif, planification, expression des sentiments, réinterprétation positive et acceptation) sont associées à un moindre niveau de difficultés émotionnelles. La maturité et l’expérience en CUMP apparaissent comme des facteurs protecteurs. De même, les participants satisfaits de l’organisation du dispositif et de l’accompagnement rapportent moins de difficultés émotionnelles et plus de satisfaction de compassion.

L’impact psychologique négatif chez les professionnels des CUMP dans ce dispositif inédit est globalement faible. Il apparaît que certaines stratégies d’adaptation, l’utilité perçue, la satisfaction quant à l’organisation et à l’accompagnement dont ils bénéficiaient sont associés à des niveaux plus bas de difficultés émotionnelles. Un encadrement soutenant et une organisation opérante du dispositif CUMP en période de crise a un effet protecteur chez les intervenants.

COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences have put into great difficulty health professionals, and the general population, fostering the emergence of various psychological and psychiatric disorders. Medical and psychological emergency units’ mission is the medical and psychological emergency care of people impacted during a traumatic event. Given their expertise in crisis management, they set up an important medical and psychological support system adapted to the health crisis’ characteristics. The unusual modalities of intervention, the specific clinic that these professionals faced in this context of great tension may have unsettled workers and generate a psychological impact. This study aims to assess the existence of such repercussions among medical and psychological emergency unit professionals involved in this new system.

In all, 313 medical and psychological emergency unit professionals agreed to participate at the online survey. They filled surveys and visual analog scales assessing the difficulties encountered in the system, as well as their level of satisfaction, post-traumatic stress, burnout, level of anxiety and depression and coping strategies put in place.

Results show few significant emotional difficulties. However higher scores are found among women, among professionals who felt a negative impact on their personal lives, as well as for those who thought they had been infected with COVID-19. The establishment of coping strategies such as active coping, planning, expressing feelings, positive reinterpretation and acceptance helped to decrease the level of emotional complexities and brought more compassionate satisfaction. We note that participants with more medical and psychological emergency unit experience tend to show less emotional hardship and more compassionate satisfaction. It appears that older as well as younger professionals have lower burnout scores, as do workers who conducted more interviews for the same person. Likewise, participants who were satisfied of the system organization and of the support – a majority in this study – report less emotional challenges and more compassionate satisfaction.

Psychological impact in this new system among medical and psychological emergency unit professionals is overall low. It appears that some coping strategies, perceived usefulness, satisfaction with the organization and the received support are associated with a lower level of emotional difficulties. A supportive framework and an operative organization of the medical and psychological emergency unit system in times of crisis has a protective effect on the participants.