Mental health challenges in the EU health and social care sector during COVID-19 : strategies for prevention and management : literature review

The COVID-19 pandemic led to psychosocial risk stressors and mental health challenges for workers across many settings, with the human health and social care activities (HeSCare) sector believed to be one of the most highly affected. Previous attempts to evaluate the HeSCare sector's burden of mental health problems resulting from work during the COVID-19 pandemic include studies conducted in very heterogeneous settings and geographical regions, often outside Europe. Due to contextual differences, these previous studies, which primarily include evidence from China and developing countries, may only partially apply to the European Union (EU). This underscores the need for region-specific assessments of the burden of mental health problems and the identification of helpful occupational safety and health (OSH) interventions applicable to the EU context regarding the prevention and management of psychosocial risks and mental health in the HeSCare sector in the context of pandemics. This report evaluates the prevalence of work-related mental health conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic in the HeSCare sector in the EU. We present available good practices, interventions and recommendations from the COVID-19 pandemic period, to address work-related psychosocial risk factors and mental health in this sector. The aim of this detailed assessment of both the burden of the problem and the proposed workplace initiatives to tackle it is to provide comprehensive and helpful guidance to policymakers and practitioners that will increase resilience and improve the preparedness of the sector for future health emergencies.