The COVID-19 pandemic has placed an immense burden on Healthcare Workers (HCWs) and their families, with ongoing mental health challenges that persist even as the immediate impacts of the pandemic subside. These challenges also extend to their families, affecting partners and children who face unique stresses from the pandemic’s effects on the lives of HCWs.  

Continuum of Care

  • Prevention
  • Treatment
  • Continuing Care
Read more

Lifecourse

  • Pregnancy
  • Infancy
  • Toddlerhood
  • Childhood
  • Adolescence
  • Young Adulthood
  • Middle Adulthood
  • Late Adulthood
Read more

Our team of Clinical Psychologists and mental health researchers at Deakin University are leading a two-year project seeking to address these challenges by identifying the mental health and family support needs of HCWs and their families, and co-designing a tailored intervention that improves their overall wellbeing. Our aim is to help prevent mental health decline, reduce burnout, and improve retention in the healthcare workforce through a family-centred intervention.

Previous findings from our research have shown that HCWs and their families are particularly vulnerable to mental health challenges, including burnout, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and disrupted family dynamics. Despite the significant impacts of the pandemic, there is a lack of targeted interventions designed to support both healthcare workers and their families. This project aims to fill these gaps by identifying their unique support needs and developing a tailored intervention to improve their overall mental health and wellbeing.

Subscribe to the project mailing list

Project goals

The main goals of the project are to:

  1. Identify Support Needs: Work directly with HCWs and their families to understand their mental health and family support needs.
  2. Co-Design an Intervention: Use these insights to develop a family-focused intervention that supports HCWs and their families.
  3. Pilot the Intervention: Implement the intervention on a small scale to assess its effectiveness and potential for wider use across the healthcare system.

Project phases

The project will be conducted in three key phases.

This project is supported by leading researchers in mental health and wellbeing, working in collaboration with healthcare organizations and government bodies to ensure that the findings can be rapidly translated into practice and policy.

Meet the team

Chief Investigators

Research Working Group

Consumer Representatives

  • Hana Menzes
  • Natalie Jones
  • Ginger Nelson
  • Michael John Killen