Supporting Workforce Mental Health During the Pandemic

Details

• Personal Author:
  Henke RM
• Description:
  Since 2020, more than 1 million lives in the U.S. have been lost due to the COVID 19 pandemic. In addition to the physical harm caused by virus infection, living through the pandemic has exacted an undeniable emotional toll. Americans have experienced new stressors that have increased mental health issues as well as risk of substance use disorders. Employers in the U.S. have reason to be concerned about the impact of these stressors on the mental health of their workforce. Employee mental health is associated with increased health care costs and sick time. Many employers in the U.S. pay for health care and an increasing number of states require employers to provide paid sick leave. Employee mental health has also been linked to reduced at-work productivity. ... This series of invited contributions makes it clear that supporting employee mental health is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Both large and small employers have options that can be tailored to the needs of their workforce and available resources. There are several areas where more research is needed. First, if work from home arrangements extend to the long term, new or modified interventions need to be designed and tested for effectiveness in employees who work from home. Related, the effectiveness of telehealth for behavioral health services needs to be evaluated to help inform employers of the value of this new modality of care. Second, work-life conflict has emerged as a long-term stressor given the lasting shift to work from home, thus, new programs may be needed to assist employees with boundary management. Finally, as the pandemic enters its fourth year, pandemic related stressors are changing from acute to chronic. Regrettably, current events are adding to employees' mental load including tragedies related to gun violence, hate crimes, political unrest, international conflict, and climate events. Employers will benefit from creating an environment and programs that recognize these stressors instead of ignoring them and enable employees to seek and receive the supports they need to maintain their health. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Mental Health Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Stress, Psychological Workplace
• Keywords:
  COVID-19 Job Stress Mental Health Psychological Reactions Total Worker Health TWH Work Environment Workforce Development Work Organization
• ISSN:
  0890-1171
• 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
• Volume:
  36
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20066940
• Citation:
  Am J Health Promot 2022 Sep; 36(7):1213-1215
• Contact Point Address:
  Rachel Mosher Henke, 75 Binney St Cambridge, MA 02142
• Email:
  Rachel.henke@us.ibm.com
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  Johns Hopkins University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20210901
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Health Promotion
• End Date:
  20260831
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6efd48d386907672af5bb3a8f8c0d65c571576be615b80108071a6dae23e9e08cfc703602d41372645b10cafa92c6ec5618e1ba4d0e02fe67c8659939e352b8c
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/231219/cdc_231219_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 510.48 KB ]