{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T15:47:24Z","timestamp":1790610444586,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,14]],"date-time":"2021-09-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1631577600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Southmead Hospital Charity Research Fund","award":["Ref: 4922"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Ref: 4922"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study aimed to develop empirically grounded recommendations and a coherent model of psychological care derived from the experiences and psychological care needs of COVID-19 frontline doctors, using semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. Participants were UK frontline doctors specialising in Emergency Medicine, Anaesthetics, or Intensive Care (n = 31) purposively sampled for maximum variation on gender, specialty, ethnicity, and trauma-related distress; most worked in ICU during the pandemic (71%). Four themes were derived: (1) \u2018coping strategies\u2019, participants used many, including exercise, mindfulness, and \u201cwait until it gets really bad\u201d; (2) \u2018sources of support\u2019, participants valued embedded psychological support, digital services, and informal conversations with colleagues or family, though there was little opportunity; (3) \u2018organisational influences on wellbeing\u2019, participants reported a love\u2013hate relationship for concepts like \u2018wellbeing\u2019, seen as important but insulting when basic workplace needs were unmet; (4) \u2018improving engagement with support\u2019, analysis suggests we must reduce physical and psychological barriers to access and encourage leaders to model psychologically supportive behaviours. Doctors\u2019 frontline COVID-19 working experiences shine a \u2018spotlight\u2019 on pre-existing problems such as lack of physical resources and access to psychological care. Empirically grounded recommendations and a model of incremental psychological care are presented for use in clinical services.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18189675","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,14]],"date-time":"2021-09-14T21:47:21Z","timestamp":1631656041000},"page":"9675","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["The COVID-19 Clinician Cohort (CoCCo) Study: Empirically Grounded Recommendations for Forward-Facing Psychological Care of Frontline Doctors"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Jo","family":"Daniels","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK"},{"name":"North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol BS10 5NB, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2366-008X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jenny","family":"Ingram","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Academic Child Health, University of Bristol Medical School, Bristol BS8 1QU, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3472-1047","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anna","family":"Pease","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Academic Child Health, University of Bristol Medical School, Bristol BS8 1QU, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elaine","family":"Wainwright","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Science, Bath Spa University, Bath BA2 9BN, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5790-1502","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kate","family":"Beckett","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"HAS-Nursing and Midwifery, University of West England Bristol, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lalitha","family":"Iyadurai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2JD, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7927-7453","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sophie","family":"Harris","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Olivia","family":"Donnelly","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol BS10 5NB, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tom","family":"Roberts","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol BS10 5NB, UK"},{"name":"Royal College of Emergency Medicine, London EC4A 1DT, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Edward","family":"Carlton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol BS10 5NB, UK"},{"name":"Royal College of Emergency Medicine, London EC4A 1DT, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,9,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e78","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bja.2021.05.017","article-title":"Psychological distress and trauma during the COVID-19 pandemic: Survey of doctors practising anaesthesia, intensive care medicine, and emergency medicine in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland","volume":"127","author":"Roberts","year":"2021","journal-title":"Br. 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