Swiss Cohort of Healthcare Professionals and Informal Caregivers - SCOHPICA

Trajectories and experiences of healthcare professionals and informal caregivers.

Since October 2022, the SCOHPICA cohort has included healthcare professionals from all sectors (inpatient, outpatient, community-based, and home care) and from a wide range of professions (general practitioners, internists and specialists, nurses, paramedical staff, medical assistants, pharmacists, physiotherapists, psychologists, intermediate caregivers, auxiliary caregivers, dieticians, occupational therapists, etc), whether self-employed or employed, practicing in Switzerland. 

Since April 2024, the cohort has also included informal caregivers with diverse profiles.

Objectives

The objectives of the cohort are to better understand:

1. the trajectories and experiences of healthcare professionals in order to identify the conditions and situations that influence their intention to stay in the healthcare profession
2. the life trajectories and experiences of informal caregivers in order to identify the key factors that promote their well-being

More broadly, the cohort also aims to enable long-term monitoring of both the intention to stay in the profession (for healthcare professionals) and well-being (for both healthcare professionals and informal caregivers), as well as their determinants. This longitudinal data will allow us to identify the optimal conditions for high-quality professional practice and to propose concrete strategies to support the healthcare workforce and formally support informal caregivers.

Quantitative and qualitative data are collected at different stages of the project. Mixed methods are considered for the analyses.