The Impact of COVID-19 on Direct Support Professionals and Frontline Supervisors Mental and Physical Health.
DSPs felt less supported than supervisors during COVID, so programs need to give frontline staff the same backing leaders get.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Anderson et al. (2025) sent an online survey to 2,584 direct support professionals and frontline supervisors in IDD services. They asked how COVID-19 affected mental health, physical health, and work life.
The team compared answers between DSPs and supervisors to see if role shaped pandemic impact.
What they found
Supervisors rated employer support and work-life quality higher than DSPs did. DSPs reported tougher pandemic experiences on the job.
The survey found group differences, but no intervention was tested.
How this fits with other research
Heald et al. (2020) showed DSPs who use self-care feel less burnout. Lahti’s 2025 data suggest those same DSPs may have had fewer buffers when COVID hit.
Gandhi et al. (2022) found 12% of DSPs already had PTSD-level stress before the pandemic. Lahti’s results imply COVID likely piled on top of that baseline.
Bould et al. (2019) showed strong practice leadership boosts support quality. Lahti’s finding that supervisors felt more supported fits that pattern—leaders got better backing, while direct-care staff did not.
Why it matters
If you run an IDD program, check whether your DSPs feel as supported as your supervisors. Add quick wins: five-minute debriefs after tough shifts, free coffee, or a shared Slack channel for peer venting. Small signals of support can narrow the gap Lahti found and may keep DSPs on the job longer.
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Join Free →Ask your DSPs to rate employer support on a 1-5 scale; if it’s below 4, schedule a daily five-minute check-in for the next two weeks.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Direct support professionals (DSPs) and frontline supervisors (FLSs) play a crucial role in the delivery of home and community-based services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). A four-wave study was launched to understand the experiences of DSPs and FLSs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the last wave, 2,584 participants responded to questions about mental and physical health issues they experienced. FLSs and DSPs differed in their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Differences included the effect on their daily work, how they viewed the quality of their work life, and whether their employer provided support for staff experiencing adverse mental and physical health outcomes. Policy recommendations to address the mental and physical health of DSPs and FLSs are provided.
Intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2025 · doi:10.1080/08870440108405525