Original title: Physical and mental health impacts of COVID-19 on healthcare workers: a scoping review
This review gathered studies about the physical and mental effects of COVID-19 on healthcare workers. The researchers screened 154 studies and included 10. They found risks linked to close or unprotected contact with patients, long work hours, and problems with hand hygiene or protective gear. Workers also reported mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, insomnia, and distress.
Imagine cooking a meal while wearing thick gloves and working for hours in a crowded kitchen. The gloves can irritate your skin, and constant close contact with others makes it harder to avoid germs. In this paper, the kitchen workers stand for healthcare workers, while the long shifts, close contact, and protective gear reflect the conditions linked to physical and mental health harms.
Healthcare workers caring for people with COVID-19 faced risks to both their physical and mental health. The review points to practical ways workplaces might reduce those risks, including infection-prevention measures, shorter shifts, and mental health support.
The review included only 10 studies, and the authors note that intervention studies were few. The abstract does not establish how well specific workplace strategies reduce harm, or whether the reported findings apply equally to all healthcare workers.
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Physical and mental health impacts of COVID-19 on healthcare workers: a scoping review — Natasha Shaukat, Daniyal Mansoor Ali, Junaid Razzak — International Journal of Emergency Medicine — doi:10.1186/s12245-020-00299-5
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.