Impact of occupational stress on healthcare workers’ family members before and during COVID-19: A systematic review

TL;DR

This study reviews how the stress of healthcare workers affected their families before and during the pandemic, finding worsened mental health and the need for broader support.

Contribution

The study systematically reviews the mental health and relational impacts on families of healthcare workers, highlighting pandemic-specific stressors.

Findings

Families of healthcare workers experienced worsened mental health during the pandemic.

Long work hours and shift work negatively impacted family relationships and social life.

Families used both positive and negative coping strategies to manage stress.

Abstract

We aimed to explore the experiences, needs, and mental health impact of family members of healthcare workers (HCWs) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eleven quantitative and nine qualitative studies were included in this review. Based on the narrative synthesis, we identified five outcomes: ‘Mental health outcomes’, ‘Family relationships, ‘Coping skills and resilience’, ‘Quality of life and social life’, and ‘Practical outcomes’. Our findings indicated that there was a high risk to the mental health and well-being of families of healthcare workers both before and during the pandemic. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, some experiences and mental health issues of families were worsened. There was also a negative association between working long hours/shift work and family relationships/communication, family social life, and joint activities, and family members taking on more domestic responsibilities. Families tended to use both positive and negative coping strategies to deal with their loved one’s job stress. Organisations and support services working with people in health care work should consider widening support to families where possible. With this understanding, HCWs and their families could be supported more effectively in clinical and organisational settings.

Trial registration: Systematic Review Registration Number: CRD42022310729. https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022310729.

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