What can be learned from the COVID-19 pandemic? Health distress on workers’ mentality and worker resilience

What can be learned from the COVID-19 pandemic?Health distress on workers' mentality and worker resilience Dear Editor, An unprecedented health disaster due to COVID-19, which not only an impact on physical health but also harms mental health in various segments of society and even in the work environment.Workers have been very affected by the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to job losses, remote work transitions, and increased stress and anxiety.A recently published study entitled 'COVID-19 and worker mental distress' by Sundaram-Stukel (2024), 1 which focuses on examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental well-being of workers, especially those experiencing work disruption.Their study provides insight into levels of mental distress among individuals who lost their jobs temporarily compared to those who remained employed during and after COVID-19.Their important findings may provide valuable insights that can inform policies, interventions and support mechanisms to address the mental health challenges workers face during work and after COVID-19.Understanding the mental health implications of changes in the work environment is critical to developing effective interventions and support systems to reduce mental stress and improve well-being among workers during work and after COVID-19. 2-5From a psychosocial perspective, important factors that need to be understood in individual mental health in the work environment are: good relationships at work, job security, and control over working hours. 3,5,6Apart from that, also these are bad factors such as high work demands, poor communication and management systems, as well as low work autonomy. 5,7Based on this, management transformation in the work environment needs to be encouraged through system changes and more professional interventions to address the challenges of the health distress caused by COVID-19 on workers' mental health.This is in line with various studies that consistently show the significant impact of building structural systems in the work environment on mental health due to changes in working conditions due to COVID-19. 8-11Apart from that, these studies also underline the importance of integrating mental health services in the work environment to overcome mental health problems among workers in a preventive and curative manner.