Addressing Psychosocial, Organizational, and Environmental Stressors Emerging from the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Effect on Essential Workers’ Mental Health and Well-Being: A Literature Review

Details

• Personal Author:
  Davis, Meghan F. ; Goetzel, Ron Z. ; Kent, Karen B. ; Roemer, Enid C. ; Woods, Elizabeth H. ; Zhang, Yuan
• Description:
  Objective: This study aimed to identify stressors faced by essential workers amid the coronavirus disease pandemic and effective interventions mitigating these stressors. Methods: We reviewed literature on psychosocial, organizational, and environmental stressors faced by essential workers during the pandemic, the consequences of those stressors, and interventions to improve worker health and well-being. Findings: Stressors included elevated risk of coronavirus disease 2019 exposure, fear of spreading the virus, lack of social and organizational supports, and financial insecurity. Negative outcomes included burnout, depression, and high turnover. Promising interventions included robust safety protocols, increased wages, childcare benefits, enhanced access to mental health services, and frequent leadership communications. Conclusion: Stress has taken a heavy toll on essential workers' physical and emotional health, productivity, and job satisfaction. To effectively protect Total Worker Health, employers should adopt evidence-based interventions promoting psychosocial, organizational, and environmental health and safety. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Communicable Diseases
  • Mental Health
  • Nervous System
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
  • Workplace
  • Virus Diseases
• Keywords:
  • Psychosocial factors
  • Stress
  • COVID-19
  • Workers
  • Work environment
  • Mental health
  • Intervention
  • Environmental stress
  • Sociological factors
  • Safety measures
  More +
• ISSN:
  1076-2752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  9 pdf pages
• Volume:
  65
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20066865
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Med 2023 May; 65(5):419-427
• Contact Point Address:
  Ron Z. Goetzel, PhD., Institute for Health and Productivity Studies, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205
• Email:
  rgoetze1@jhu.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2023
• NORA Priority Area:
  Healthcare and Social Assistance ; Services
• Performing Organization:
  Johns Hopkins University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20210901
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20260831
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/230680/cdc_230680_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 490.14 KB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e7f1b2dd9a87d4f9447093c207e216e62a831392a0bf223ac2a5d116d2878c97c2b629c595a84d808599f5268b7cee47de4292de3c11fae286c7383fadcc9cb4