Mr. Hiroki Asaoka, a second-year Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Psychiatry Nursing, The University of Tokyo, received the Best Poster Award at the 26th East Asian Forum of Nursing Scholars (EAFONS 2023) for the presentation titled “Longitudinal change of psychological distress among healthcare professionals with and without psychological first aid training experience during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Mr. Asaoka and co-researchers compared the longitudinal change of the psychological distress of a group with psychological first aid (PFA) training experience and a group without PFA training experience among healthcare professionals during the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Among healthcare professionals other than physicians, psychological distress was significantly lower among those with PFA training experience than those without. The results were not consistent among physicians.
“Our research provides evidence of the possible effectiveness of PFA training experience in preventing mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further research is needed to show reliable results of the effectiveness of PFA training on mental health for different occupations of healthcare professionals,” said Mr. Asaoka.
