Interventions to improve the psychological well-being of healthcare workers in disasters, pandemics, and mass casualty events

Authors

  • Romeo Fairley, MD, MPH https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0758-091X
  • Sharon E. Mace, MD
  • Kathy Lehman-Huskamp, MD
  • Leah Gustafson Ista, MD, MSPH
  • Jennie Wang, DO, MPH
  • Lillian Lockwood, MD
  • Joshua Weil, MD
  • Carl H. Schultz, MD, FACEP

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/ajdm.2022.0433

Keywords:

disaster medicine, mental health, resilience, first responder

Abstract

Objectives: This information paper will describe the current research and recommendations for improving healthcare worker’s (HCW) mental health. Individual and organizational goals will be outlined with items broken up into the time frames of predisaster, during a disaster, and post-disaster.

Methods: A team of subject matter experts reviewed the current literature utilizing a search of PubMed, Google Scholar, relevant article reference lists, and subject matter interviews.

Results: Thirty-six distinct recommendations were identified and distributed into the time frames of predisaster, during a disaster, and post-disaster. Twenty-one of these are pertaining to organizational goals and factors. Fifteen recommendations are identified for individual HCWs.

Conclusions: Additional institutional and government policies supporting the protection of HCW’s mental health are required to reduce the stigma and fear, preventing frontline workers from seeking help with the psychological effects of disasters, mass casualty incidents, and pandemics. Further research dealing with ways to ameliorate the negative effects of the stress related to the duties and responsibilities of HCWs, which are exacerbated by disasters, is needed.

Author Biographies

Romeo Fairley, MD, MPH

Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas

Sharon E. Mace, MD

Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University; Director of Research, Emergency Services Institute; Director of Research, Department of Emergency Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio

Kathy Lehman-Huskamp, MD

Associate Professor, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina

Leah Gustafson Ista, MD, MSPH

Emergency Medicine Physician, Altru Health System, Grand Forks, North Dakota

Lillian Lockwood, MD

Emergency Medicine, Colmery-O’Neil Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Topeka, Kansas

Joshua Weil, MD

Emergency Medicine, The Permanente Medical Group, Kaiser Hospital Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa, California

Carl H. Schultz, MD, FACEP

Professor Emeritus of Emergency Medicine and Public Health, UC Irvine School of Medicine; EMS Medical Director, Orange County Health Care Agency, Irvine, California

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Published

09/01/2022

How to Cite

Fairley, MD, MPH, R., S. E. Mace, MD, K. Lehman-Huskamp, MD, L. G. Ista, MD, MSPH, J. Wang, DO, MPH, L. Lockwood, MD, J. Weil, MD, and C. H. Schultz, MD, FACEP. “Interventions to Improve the Psychological Well-Being of Healthcare Workers in Disasters, Pandemics, and Mass Casualty Events”. American Journal of Disaster Medicine, vol. 17, no. 3, Sept. 2022, pp. 189-95, doi:10.5055/ajdm.2022.0433.

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 3 (2022): Summer

Section

Articles

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