A Scoping Review of Psychosocial Risks to Health Workers during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed health workers to a diverse set of hazards impacting their physical, psychological and social wellbeing. This review aims to provide an overview of the categories of the psychosocial risk factors and hazards affecting HCWs during the Covid-19 pandemic and the recommendations for prevention. We used the scoping review methodology to collate categories of psychosocial risks, the related health outcomes, interventions, and data gaps. The review was conducted on global peer-reviewed academic and authoritative grey literature, published between 1. January–26. October 2020; in total, 220 articles were included into the review and the subsequent analysis. Analysis of the extracted data found PSRs related to four sources: personal protective equipment (PPE), job content, work organisation, and social context. is. Women health workers and nurses reported worst health outcomes. Majority of the research to date concerns health workers in secondary care, while data on psychosocial risks at primary and community-based settings are scarce. However, the emerging research implies that the pandemic creates psychosocial risks also to non-clinical health workers. The intervention and mitigation measures address individual and organisational levels. Preventative and mitigating measures for social and societal risks—such as staff shortages, intersecting inequalities, and financial stressors require further research.

Health outcomes and psychosocial risk exposures among healthcare workers during the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak

“…The current COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the working population, and especially healthcare professionals (HCPs) ( Pearman et al, 2020 ), both in the performance of care tasks and their mental health ( García-Iglesias et al, 2020 ). They have faced a great increase in demands in their work environment ( Franklin and Gkiouleka, 2021 ), with qualitative and quantitative changes in their tasks. They were reorganized into care teams which did not take into account their specialty or previous experience, in order to dedicate themselves almost exclusively to treating COVID-19 patients.…”

Working during a Pandemic between the Risk of Being Infected and/or the Risks Related to Social Distancing: First Validation of the SAPH@W Questionnaire

“…The first concerns the contagion risk perception, along with safe behaviours among workers external to the healthcare sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since February 2020, several scholars have, in fact, analysed the issue of perceived safety, fear of contagion, and the use of PPE only among medical and nursing staff [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. The second gap, regardless of the pandemic period, concerns the fact that the literature on organisational safety largely focuses on the bio-risk hazard from a technical point of view.…”

Hopelessness and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms among Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Any Role for Mediating Variables?

“…Similarly, barriers and facilitators remain uncertain. However, similarly to the studies mentioned above, they underline the need for an integrated model of action, focusing on both workplace characteristics and support of basic daily needs through to pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions [52]. Other studies have instead addressed specific characteristics of exposed individuals (such as sensitivity to stigma, moral injury, some personality traits, the tendency to alexithymia, or a number of socio-ecological characteristics) [51][52][53][54], in order to characterize the vulnerability of these individuals and to identify more specific interventions.…”

“…From the perspective of clinical implications, several papers on how to help healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic are emerging in the literature. These strategies are aimed at improving the mental health of healthcare workers, being focused on an integrated approach; intervention and mitigation measures address various levels, ranging from the individual to the organization of institutions [51,52]. The recommendations, subdivided into low, medium, and high resources requiring the corresponding degrees of mental health resources and infrastructures [51], concern practical interventions ranging from the organization of work and family-work balance to the clarification and standardization of procedures and decision-making, up to psychoeducational programs and psychotherapy, supportive included [52].…”

“…These strategies are aimed at improving the mental health of healthcare workers, being focused on an integrated approach; intervention and mitigation measures address various levels, ranging from the individual to the organization of institutions [51,52]. The recommendations, subdivided into low, medium, and high resources requiring the corresponding degrees of mental health resources and infrastructures [51], concern practical interventions ranging from the organization of work and family-work balance to the clarification and standardization of procedures and decision-making, up to psychoeducational programs and psychotherapy, supportive included [52]. In a recent systematic review of the Cochrane Library [53], interventions to support the resilience and mental health of frontline healthcare workers during and after a disease outbreak, epidemic, or pandemic (including SARS, MERS, and COVID-19) were examined.…”