Organisational professional support measures to enhance mental health and wellbeing in female healthcare workers: an umbrella review
Clinical Snapshot
PICO Framework
| P — Population | Female healthcare workers |
| I — Intervention | Organisational professional support measures (person-directed interventions like CBT and relaxation, organisation-directed interventions like clinical supervision and mentoring) |
| C — Comparator | Usual care or no intervention (implied from systematic reviews) |
| O — Outcomes | Mental health and wellbeing outcomes, staff-level outcomes, organisational outcomes |
Bottom Line
This umbrella review of 32 systematic reviews found that organisational support measures can enhance female healthcare workers' mental health, though evidence quality varies significantly. Person-directed interventions like cognitive-behavioural therapy and relaxation techniques primarily improve individual staff outcomes, while organisation-directed approaches such as clinical supervision and mentoring benefit both staff wellbeing and organisational performance. The combination of both approaches appears most effective. However, the review highlights concerning gaps: most studies lack female-specific focus despite women comprising the majority of healthcare workers, and there's substantial variability in intervention design and outcome measurement. The authors note significant limitations in existing research quality and reporting. While the findings support implementing structured supervision and mentoring programs alongside individual psychological support, healthcare organisations should recognise that social connections at work can be both supportive and stressful. The evidence suggests a multi-level approach is needed, but more rigorous, gender-specific research is required before definitive practice recommendations can be made.
Key Findings
P Value: Not applicable for umbrella review
Effect Size: Not quantified - narrative synthesis only
Primary Outcome: Mental health and wellbeing outcomes in female healthcare workers
Nnt Or Sensitivity: Not calculated - qualitative synthesis identifying person-directed interventions (CBT, relaxation) for staff outcomes vs organisation-directed interventions (supervision, mentoring) for combined staff-organisational outcomes
Confidence Interval: Not reported
Clinical Application
Moderate - requires organisational commitment and resources for implementation of supervision, mentoring programs, and CBT/relaxation interventions Highly relevant to Australian healthcare system facing workforce mental health challenges. Aligns with RACGP guidelines on practitioner wellbeing and could inform workplace mental health policies under Safe Work Australia frameworks Female healthcare workers across all healthcare settings including hospitals, primary care, and community health services
Abstract
PURPOSE: This study aims to synthesise evidence on organisational professional support measures that enhance female healthcare workers' mental health and wellbeing. Female healthcare workers face high rates of mental health challenges, impacting their ability to provide optimal care. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: This umbrella review adhered to the nine-step pathway to conducting umbrella reviews by Cant et al. (2022) and reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Overview of Reviews checklist (Pollock, 2019). A search of Embase, Medline, CINAHL via EBSCO and the Cochrane Library for English language papers from January 2011 onwards was conducted (search date: February 2024). Following an identification of relevant papers and data extraction, themes were developed using a narrative synthesis approach. FINDINGS: In total, 32 systematic reviews met the inclusion criteria. From the data synthesis, four themes were developed, namely lack of studies specific to female healthcare workers, diversity and variability of interventions, interventions best related to staff outcomes versus organisational outcomes and social connections at work can be supportive or stressful. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Evidence supports that person-directed interventions including cognitive-behavioural therapy and relaxation measures may enhance staff-level outcomes. In contrast, organisation-directed interventions such as clinical supervision and mentoring, or a combination of person- and organisation-centred interventions, appear to enhance both staff and organisational outcomes. Limitations in existing studies highlight the need for improved research conduct and reporting.
References
- 1.Smith, L. K., Khor, K., McGrail, M., Lizarondo, L., Ford, M., Sangelaji, B., & Martin, P. (2026). Organisational professional support measures to enhance mental health and wellbeing in female healthcare workers: an umbrella review. Journal of Health Organization and Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHOM-04-2025-0181
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