Health Worker Mental Health: Addressing the Current Crisis and Building a Sustainable Future

• Published in: American journal of public health (1971) 2024-02, Vol.114 (S2), p.132-133
• Main Authors: Cunningham, Thomas R, Chosewood, L Casey, Davis, Jeane Garcia, Rochel de Camargo, Kenneth
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Burnout; COVID-19; Crises; Disease control; Editor's Choice; Emergency medical services; Emergency response; Harassment; Health care policy; Health education; Health hazards; Health Personnel; Health promotion; Humans; Intervention; Labor unions; Long-term care; Medical personnel; Medical workers; Mental disorders; Mental Health; Mental health care; Mental health services; Musculoskeletal diseases; Nurses; Occupational safety; Organizational change; Organizations; Pandemics; Prevention; Public health; Suicide; Supplements; Surveys; Well being; Workers; Working conditions; Workloads; Workplaces
• ISSN: 0090-0036; 1541-0048; 1541-0048
• DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2024.307586

The well-being of health workers is essential to provide health promotion, prevention, and care. There is mounting evidence, though, that the wellbeing of health workers is not being protected as it should be. Surveys have indicated health workers, including clinicians, community health workers, public health workers, mental health workers, emergency medical responders, long-term care workers, as well as those in support roles, have been experiencing high levels of physical injury, harassment, stress, and burnout. Many such workers shared their intentions to leave their positions or the field altogether. Media reports have described heart-wrenching cases of physicians and nurses who died by suicide, and surveys have indicated unprecedented levels of poor mental health among health workers.In 2021, the American Rescue Plan funded new research, intervention development, training, education, and dissemination, largely in response to the mental health crisis unfolding due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since that time, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Academy of Medicine, the U.S. Surgeon General, organized labor, and numerous other leaders and stakeholders have called for urgent action. This supplement was conceived by the CDC's National institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to rapidly communicate the latest science guiding the development of responsive mental health and well-being resources for health workers.Health workers, who already faced difficult and chronically stressful working conditions, experienced profound, negative mental health effects as a result of the pandemic-even more than other essential workers (Health Workers Face a Mental Health Crisis | VitalSigns | CDC). The connection between mental health outcomes and how work is designed, organized, and managed is becoming increasingly clear. There is a growing body of science supporting the improvement of workplace mental health through healthy work design and systems-level well-being efforts within organizations. This supplement directly contributes to this literature in the context of the health sector.In this supplement, several contributions explore the theme of Health Worker Mental Health: Addressing the Current Crisis and Building a Sustainable Future. The work presented in this supplement covers three main areas of interest: 1 ) updated data describing concerning trends in the state of health worker mental health and well-being, 2) original