Working conditions of the kinesiologists working in the Atacama region in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: The social-health crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of attending to the working conditions of health personnel in order to provide for risks at work. Kinesiologists had a frontline role during the pandemic which led to the modification of their activities and at the same time increased hiring of these professionals in health care services. Objective: To understand the working conditions of kinesiologists working in the Atacama region, in northern Chile, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: The qualitative study is based on the naturalistic paradigm, the tendency used is the grounded theory with a systematic design of Strauss and Corbin J. With two levels of open and axial analysis. Twenty semi-structured interviews were carried out with kinesiologists, ten women and ten men. Results: The analysis allowed establishing eight predominant categories: poor working conditions, poor employment conditions, attitudes and feelings, professionalism, facilitators of working conditions, relevance of the professional role, good employment conditions and lack of knowledge of concepts of employment and working conditions. Conclusion: The working conditions of kinesiologists are deficient, the informal contractual situation stands out and without access to social security, constituting an element of precarious employment and exposure to psychosocial risks as predominant elements of working conditions that are important to address to ensure the safety and quality of care services through the professionals who provide care