MENTAL HEALTH OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS: RISK FACTORS, OCCUPATIONAL BURNOUT AND PREVENTION STRATEGIES

Abstract

This article analyzes the mental health of healthcare professionals, emphasizing psychosocial risk factors, occupational burnout, and prevention strategies applicable to healthcare services. A narrative review with a structured search was conducted and updated through August 2026 in PubMed/MEDLINE and SciELO, complemented by documents from the World Health Organization and Brazilian official agencies. Evidence indicates that excessive workload, long working hours, shift work, low job control, understaffing, violence, harassment, ethical conflicts, and poor organizational support are associated with worse mental health. Burnout should be understood as an occupational phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed, rather than as a synonym for depression or anxiety, although these conditions may coexist. Recent studies also associate burnout with intention to leave employment, absenteeism, and poorer patient safety and quality-of-care indicators. The review concludes that the most consistent prevention approach combines organizational changes, participatory management of psychosocial risks, supportive leadership, confidential access to mental health care, and individual-level interventions as complementary measures rather than substitutes for adequate working conditions.