Category: Mental Health
Prioritizing our Healthcare Workers: The Importance of Addressing the Intersection of Workplace Violence and Mental Health and Wellbeing
Workplace violence impacts the mental health and wellbeing of the healthcare workforce. The negative outcomes not only affect the healthcare worker but can trickle down to patient safety and satisfaction. It is important that healthcare institutions implement workplace violence prevention programs that benefit the entire healthcare workforce. This blog post highlights current efforts across Read More >
Posted on by 8 CommentsTackling Mental Health Challenges in the Public Safety Sector: Implementing and Evaluating Mental Health Programs
Public safety sector workers including firefighters (structural and wildland), law enforcement officers, emergency medical services (EMS) clinicians, and corrections personnel are at a high risk of occupational exposure to traumatic events and stress. As such, mental health programs are critical for addressing the unique challenges these workers face. Effective programs must be multi-faceted, address Read More >
Posted on by 2 CommentsWorkers’ Memorial Day 2024: Statement by NIOSH Director
Each year, on April 28, we pause to recognize Workers’ Memorial Day and honor those whose death or suffering resulted from exposure to hazards at work. Words are not enough when it comes to change. Research has shown that the health and safety of workers relies on active and intentional involvement in ways that take Read More >
Posted on bySupporting Mental Health in the Workplace
Work plays a significant role in workers’ mental health. This impact is so substantial that managers impact workers’ mental health more than doctors or therapists do, according to the Workforce Institute’s Mental Health at Work study. The U.S. Surgeon General even emphasizes the role of workplaces in shaping our mental and physical well-being, noting Read More >
Posted on by 3 CommentsAn Urgent Call to Address Work-related Psychosocial Hazards and Improve Worker Well-being
Work-related psychosocial hazards are factors in the work environment that can cause stress, strain, or interpersonal problems for the worker. This has the potential to cause physical and psychological harm. Work-related psychosocial hazards are on the verge of surpassing many other occupational hazards in terms of their contribution to poor health, injury, disability, and Read More >
Posted on by 6 CommentsProtecting the Well-being of the Nation’s Health Workforce
The American Journal of Public Health recently published a special supplement with 15 articles focusing on health worker mental health. As part of this special issue, our article Protecting the Mental Health and Well-being of the Nation’s Health Workforce summarizes the scope of the issue and prevention efforts underway at the Centers for Disease Control and Read More >
Posted on byAJPH Highlights Health Worker Mental Health
The American Journal of Public Health recently published a special supplement with 15 articles focusing on health worker mental health. This special issue of the journal was sponsored and edited by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and stems from the health worker mental health initiative from the Centers for Disease Control Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentWant to Improve the Well-Being of Health Workers? The System Itself Must Change
The pandemic has brought attention to the safety, health, and well-being of workers in healthcare. Recent efforts to address these issues include, the Office of the Surgeon General’s Addressing Health Worker Burnout,(1) an “Advisory on Building a Thriving Health Workforce,” from the National Academy of Medicine’s National Plan for Healthcare Workforce Wellbeing (2) and Read More >
Posted on by 4 CommentsNew Burnout Prevention Training for Public Health
A new free online training, Understanding and Preventing Burnout among Public Health Workers: Guidance for Public Health Leaders will help managers and supervisors prevent burnout in the public health workers they lead and in themselves. The course, from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, is part of a health worker mental health Read More >
Posted on byMental Health, Alcohol Use, and Substance Use Resources for Workers and Employers
The workplace is an important setting to address mental health conditions, excessive alcohol use, and other substance use disorders among workers. In 2021, more than half of U.S. adults who reported a mental illness in the last year were employed. National U.S. data show that 70% of all adults with a substance use disorder (including Read More >
Posted on by 6 CommentsNational Correctional Workers Appreciation Week 2023
May 7-13, 2023, is National Correctional Officers Week also referred to as Correctional Workers Week. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 393,000 correctional officers and jailers worked inside correctional facilities in the United States in 2021.[1] The total number of correctional workers is likely much higher as facilities may also employ chaplains, Read More >
Posted on byPsychosocial Hazards Often Overlooked in Construction Industry
Why Do Psychosocial Factors of Work Matter? The construction industry has considerable safety and health hazards that result in high rates of injury, illness, and fatality. Common hazards include noise, fall, electrical, and chemical hazards. Approximately 60% of all construction fatalities each year can be attributed to the ‘focus four’ hazards of falls, struck-by, caught Read More >
Posted on by 4 CommentsPre-pandemic Mental Health and Well-being of Healthcare Workers
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers faced substantial work-related stress. Most research on the mental health and well-being of healthcare workers has focused on physicians and nurses, with less attention paid to other healthcare occupations. Recent research from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) evaluated the pre-pandemic mental health and well-being Read More >
Posted on by 7 CommentsHealth Worker Mental Health Initiative
A new Surgeon General’s Advisory highlights the urgent need to address the health worker burnout crisis across the country. Workers providing health services face many on-the-job challenges that can lead to work-related stress. For many of the 20 million health workers in the U.S., the COVID-19 pandemic has led to new and worsening mental health Read More >
Posted on by 3 CommentsSuicide Prevention for Healthcare Workers
If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. 988 connects you with a trained crisis counselor who can help. Each September the nation comes together to mark Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, an annual observance highlighting the importance of this growing public health issue. Read More >
Posted on by 3 CommentsExtramural Spotlight: Airline Pilot Mental Health
In March 2015, Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed into the French Alps, killing all 150 people onboard. An investigation found that the copilot deliberately steered the plane into the mountainside. It also revealed that he had a history of depression. Among workers, untreated depression can affect the ability to perform tasks and—as the Germanwings incident shows—in Read More >
Posted on by 11 CommentsJob Strain, Long Work Hours, and Suicidal Thoughts
September 9-15th, 2018 is National Suicide Prevention week. Workplace suicide and mental health in general are often underrepresented in workplace health and safety discussions. However, globally, more than 300 million people suffer from depression, the leading cause of disability (WHO, 2017). In the US, the suicide mortality rate increased by 24% from 1999 to 2014, Read More >
Posted on by 8 CommentsWorkplace Suicide
The research literature on occupation and suicide has consistently identified several occupations at high risk for suicide: farmers, medical doctors, law enforcement officers, and soldiers. However, there are few studies examining suicides that occur in U.S. workplaces. Recently published research from NIOSH, examined suicides occurring in U.S. workplaces between 2003 and 2010 and compared workplace Read More >
Posted on by 11 Comments