Psycho-social risks and mental health

Psycho-social risks and mental health

Time pressure, lack of control over work tasks, long working hours, shift work, lack of support and moral injury are important risk factors for occupational stress, burnout and fatigue among health workers.

WHO / Blink Media - Amanda Mustard
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Psycho-social risks and mental health

Intrinsic demands of the job, individual susceptibility, and poor work organization contributes to increased stress in health workers.

Prolonged job stress may cause burnout, chronic fatigue, absenteeism, high staff turnover, reduced patient satisfaction, and increased diagnosis and treatment errors.

Preventive measures

Implement organizational interventions:

To address psychosocial risk factors e.g., through workload reductions, schedule changes, improved communication, and teamwork, to reduce emotional distress and improve work related outcomes.

To provide reasonable work accommodations for workers with mental health conditions.

Train:

Managers to support mental health of health and emergency workers.

Health and emergency workers in mental health literacy and awareness to improve their mental health-related knowledge and attitudes at work.

Implement individual interventions by:

Using universally delivered psychosocial interventions – such as mindfulness or cognitive behavioural approaches – to build stress management skills, promote positive mental health, and reduce emotional distress.

Providing psychosocial interventions – such as stress management and self-care training or communication skills training – to health and emergency workers experiencing emotional distress.

Encouraging physical activity – such as resistance training, strength-training, aerobic training, weight training, walking – for improved mental health and work ability.

Consider evidence-based mental health clinical care, with or without work-directed care, for workers returning to work after absence associated with mental health conditions, to reduce mental health symptoms and days of absence.

Provide recovery-oriented strategies – such as (augmented) supported employment – for individuals with severe mental health conditions to obtain and maintain employment.

Organize work to reduce job strain by optimizing workload and working time, ensuring safe staffing levels, encouraging regular breaks and having flexible schedules (1).

Optimize shift lengths to avoid fatigue, giving preference to shift rotation in a forward direction (1)

Provide accommodation for health workers during emergency operations with access to food services, sanitary facilities and recreational opportunities