Ss54-02 Moral Stress and Injury in Humanitarian Settings: Using Research to Improve Practice

Background Moral stress refers to emotional and psychological feelings that occur due to an inability to do what one considers morally right while moral injury refers to the psychological distress that may result from action, inaction or witness to actions that violates an individual’s ethical code. Although these experiences have been reported among military and healthcare workers in humanitarian settings, research on the subject is limited. This study aimed to explore the experience of moral stress and injury amongst professionals in humanitarian settings. Materials and Methods Literature review and post presentation survey were completed by humanitarian workers. Results Out of the 33 participants who completed the survey, 94% reported to have experienced moral stress while 39% reported an experience of moral injury. None of the participants reported any workplace treatment or support from following their experience. Over half of the respondents said that the experience of moral stress/injury was the same for all workers (57%), followed by humanitarian workers (14%), military (11%), paramedics (8%), and nurses and doctors (5%) each. There was limited knowledge on appropriate response to their experiences of moral stress and injury and the majority only disclosed their experience to family and friends. Conclusion Moral stress and injury are common amongst humanitarian workers and indeed most workers. However, knowledge and workplace support for workers is limited. It is essential that employers prioritize workplace sensitization and support for workers to limit the impact. Multilevel intervention including research is essential to support workers especially those in humanitarian settings.