Healthy workplace onboard: Insights gained from the COVID-19 impact on mental health and wellbeing of seafarers

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Seafarers’ psychological health is seriously affected by COVID-19. The pandemic could act as a catalyst for change with respect to seafarers’ mental health protection and promotion. OBJECTIVE: The study explores the main factors contributing to the mental health and wellbeing of seafarers. Moreover, elements to help seafarers lessen the impact of the pandemic on their work and life onboard are analyzed, and their role in developing a positive psychosocial environment and promoting a healthy workplace onboard are discussed. METHODS: The study involved the use of an ad hoc questionnaire and the adoption of both quantitative and qualitative methods. The sample included one hundred and five active seafarers. RESULTS: Ninety-six percent of the sample stated that mental health is a very or extremely important part of their general health. Seafarers perceive that their mental health has been seriously impacted by COVID-19. Major factors contributing to seafarers’ mental health and wellbeing reveal three groups of factors: rest and spare time-related factors, communication/relationship with the external world, and interaction and social life on board factors. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies suggested by seafarers for coping with “inevitable” psychological stress produced by COVID-19 and promoting their wellbeing include managerial, emotional, facilities-related (including communication infrastructure), physical, and social elements to promote wellbeing. Economic, intellectual, and spiritual elements also have to be taken into consideration and require further investigation. Building on seafarers’ insights and experiences, a healthy environment onboard should cultivate holistically the four main spheres of a healthy workplace (physical work environment, psychosocial work environment, personal health resources, and enterprise community involvement) and the five features of a healthy psychosocial environment (social, emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual) under all circumstances, whether exceptional or ordinary.

Analysis of influencing factors of subjective career unsuccessfulness of vocational college graduates from the Department of Navigation in China

“…Besides, the adverse effects of the epidemic, poor interpersonal relationships, and hard work mentioned in this study were similar to those mentioned by Carrera-Arce et al (2022) . COVID-19, factors related to rest and leisure time, communication/relationships with the outside world, and onboard interactions were the factors in seafarers’ social life which affected their mental health and well-being.…”

A Systematic Review of Assessment Methods for Seafarers’ Mental Health and Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Almost half of the reviewed studies 16,19,28,46,49 -52,57 -59 employed study-specific questionnaires designed for the research to indicate the prevalence of the problem/s asked for. Most of these study-specific questionnaires include either “Yes/No” or “Likert-type” response format to questions such as “Your level of happiness/level of stress,” 51 “How much your mental health and well-being has been affected,” 19 “Do you suffer from anxiety or sad mood?,” 49 “How is your mental health during these periods?”, 46 or “Negative impact of COVID-19 on your mental health.” 28 Moreover, one study 20 assessed seafarers’ mental distress by asking ship officers to observe colleagues and rate their anxiety symptoms and impacts on performance.…”

“…Unsurprisingly, the questionnaires present a large variability in questions and vocabulary used. Some questionnaires introduced generic questions to measure the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health, 19,28 while others provided specific questions on stress, anxiety or happiness levels. 46,49,51 Terms describing mental health were inconsistent (eg, stress, sad mood, happiness, anxiety, well-being, depression), undermining the validity of the constructs the studies intend to measure.…”

“…53,54 However, just a few reviewed studies include any reliability and validity measures of the instruments utilized among seafarers. 19,30,33,46,52 Notably, the review shows that authoritative and validated tools incorporating maritime specificities (operational needs and dedicated to maritime populations) to assess seafarers’ mental health are not currently available. Developing and validating such instruments in a seafaring context is necessary and mirrors the same issues the aviation environment encounters for aviation professionals’ mental health assessment.…”

“…13 The impact of the crisis on seafarers' mental health has been researched and documented. 10,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] The pandemic exposed structural deficiencies in occupational health and safety at sea [24][25][26] and brought crew welfare issues to the fore of discussions.…”