Page 9 - GHES-2-4

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability

REVIEW ARTICLE
Preparing for disease X: A look at the

psychological impact of COVID-19 on frontline
healthcare workers and responses to reduce

their burden

Jarryd S. Ludski*
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Notre Dame Australia, School of Medicine
Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Abstract

The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic placed enormous strain on healthcare
workers (HCWs) and systems. With over 766 million cases, a high risk of workplace-
acquired infection, and a constantly evolving disease trajectory, COVID-19 placed
an incredible burden on frontline HCWs. Studies on previous pandemics have
highlighted the presence of significant psychological distress in HCWs; yet, mental
health remained a secondary consideration in many hospitals’ pandemic responses.
This review explores the psychological impact of COVID-19 on frontline HCWs during
Academic editor: the early stages of the pandemic and describes responses implemented by health
Mihajlo Jakovljevic M.D. Ph.D. MAE services to reduce it. In addition, it aims to provide a structure for the implementation
*Corresponding author: and evaluation of future evidence-based programs that support the well-being of
Jarryd Ludski frontline HCWs helping to prepare for disease X. A narrative review with a systematic
(jarryd.ludski1@my.nd.edu.au) approach was completed using the MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied
Citation: Ludski, J.S. (2024). Health Literature, and Cochrane databases. Twenty publications were included in the
Preparing for disease X: A look study. Symptoms of psychological distress were reported in up to 70% of frontline
at the psychological impact of HCWs, with as many as 50% suffering depression, 62% reporting anxiety, and 45%
COVID-19 on frontline healthcare
workers and responses to reduce of those who required quarantine experiencing insomnia. Mindfulness training, safe
their burden. Global Health Econ rest areas, mental health practitioners, and pandemic rostering are responses that
Sustain, 2(4):2530. were implemented across health services during the pandemic. While the impact
https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2530
of COVID-19 has been enormous, its final toll remains unknown. High rates of
Received: December 26, 2023 psychological distress among frontline HCWs mean that the impact will extend far
Accepted: May 20, 2024 beyond the virus itself. Health services must implement evidence-based resilience
strategies to ensure the safety of their frontline staff now and in the future.
Published Online: September 26,
2024
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). Keywords: Coronavirus 2019; Frontline healthcare workers; Psychological impact;
This is an Open-Access article Psychological distress; Responses; Disease X
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is 1. Introduction
properly cited.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience In late 2019, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was first recognized, and on January 30,
Publishing remains neutral with 2020, it was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Health Organization (WHO, 2020). Ten months later, on October 27, 2020, global

affiliations. case numbers exceeded 43 million, with over 1.1 million deaths (BBC, 2020) including

Volume 2 Issue 4 (2024) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2530