Abstract
The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed health workers to a diverse set of hazards impacting their physical, psychological and social wellbeing. This review aims to provide an overview of the categories of the psychosocial risk factors and hazards affecting HCWs during the Covid-19 pandemic and the recommendations for prevention. We used the scoping review methodology to collate categories of psychosocial risks, the related health outcomes, interventions, and data gaps. The review was conducted on global peer-reviewed academic and authoritative grey literature, published between 1. January–26. October 2020; in total, 220 articles were included into the review and the subsequent analysis. Analysis of the extracted data found PSRs related to four sources: personal protective equipment (PPE), job content, work organisation, and social context. is. Women health workers and nurses reported worst health outcomes. Majority of the research to date concerns health workers in secondary care, while data on psychosocial risks at primary and community-based settings are scarce. However, the emerging research implies that the pandemic creates psychosocial risks also to non-clinical health workers. The intervention and mitigation measures address individual and organisational levels. Preventative and mitigating measures for social and societal risks—such as staff shortages, intersecting inequalities, and financial stressors require further research.
Highlights
It has been a year since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak a pandemic [1], and we have reached a point where we can assess the impact of the pandemic on healthcare systems since there is a large amount of empirical evidence documenting the challenges and the disruptions
The main focus was an overview of the categories of the psychosocial risk factors and hazards affecting health care workers (HCWs) during the Covid-19 pandemic and the recommendations for prevention
The extracted data were used to produce a summary overview [42] according to the key sources and themes [40] presented in the results section; health outcomes and main sources of Psychosocial risks (PSR) based on the main findings; and preventative measures based on the conclusions and recommendations that are discussed in the studies
Summary
It has been a year since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak a pandemic [1], and we have reached a point where we can assess the impact of the pandemic on healthcare systems since there is a large amount of empirical evidence documenting the challenges and the disruptions. The findings on the effects of the pandemic on health care workers (HCWs) highlight the multiple ways in which the Covid-19 pandemic poses a significant threat to their physical, psychological and social well-being [2,3] This scoping review engages with this evidence and offers an overview of categories of psychosocial risks affecting medical and non-medical healthcare workers, the reported health outcomes associated with the risks, and the intersecting inequalities in negative health outcomes among the workers. The research on effects of Covid-19 continues to rapidly evolve, and updated reviews are needed [6] In this context, the primary aim of this study is to categorise data and evidence on PSR to health workers, and the related prevention measures.
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