Health care workers’ risk behaviors and health status: Hidden realities or new paradigms?

Abstract

Healthcare workers (HCWs) and health systems comprise one of the most critical, diverse, and largest industries globally. Healthcare and public health research is often focused on population disease prevention and management, health and disease risks among the public, patient treatment and outcomes, drug and device innovations, healthcare costs, quality, and utilization. Not much is written about the health of HCWs despite the fact that their health is an indirect and major determinant of population health and health system functioning. This editorial proposes focus categories to examine and understand the determinants of the health of HCWs. We are also calling for more research on this topic and submissions to this journal on the extent and nature of health risk and protective factors among HCWs, the determinants of various health problems among HCWs, and interventions or initiatives as real-world examples of what works in improving various dimensions of the health of HCWs.