Interdisciplinary Approaches to Workforce Mental Health and Wellbeing in Healthcare Settings: Nursing and Social Work Perspectives

Submission Deadline: 31 December 2026 View: 18 Submit to Special Issue

Guest Editor(s)

Prof. Wenjie Duan

Email: duan.w@outlook.com

Affiliation: 1. Department of Social Work, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China

2. School of Social and Public Administration, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

Homepage:

Research Interests: mental health promotion, assessment, intervention, evidence-based practice

Prof. Weijie Xing

Email: xingweijie@fudan.edu.cn

Affiliation: School of Nursing, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Homepage:

Research Interests: mental health promotion, evidence-based practice

Summary

Healthcare settings are increasingly recognized as complex and high-pressure environments in which mental health and well-being have become critical concerns for both healthcare professionals and service users. Rapid healthcare system transformation, workforce shortages, emotional labor, organizational stress, and the growing complexity of patient care have intensified psychological challenges across healthcare contexts. In response, there is an urgent need for interdisciplinary approaches that promote mental health, resilience, psychosocial support, and sustainable well-being within healthcare systems.

This Special Issue aims to explore interdisciplinary perspectives on workforce mental health and well-being in healthcare settings, with particular attention to the roles of nursing and social work. We welcome contributions focusing not only on healthcare professionals themselves—including nurses, physicians, medical social workers, and allied health staff—but also on the mental health and well-being of populations receiving healthcare services, such as inpatients, outpatients, family caregivers, and vulnerable patient groups. The Special Issue seeks to encourage dialogue across disciplines and to advance evidence-based approaches to mental health promotion in healthcare environments.

We invite submissions addressing a broad range of topics related to mental health and well-being in healthcare settings. Relevant themes may include, but are not limited to, burnout, occupational stress, resilience, emotional labor, psychosocial support, interdisciplinary collaboration, workplace well-being, reflective practice, trauma-informed care, organizational support systems, digital health and mental health, patient psychological experiences, and healthcare workforce sustainability.

The Special Issue welcomes diverse methodological approaches, including systematic reviews, meta-analyses, cross-sectional studies, longitudinal research, qualitative inquiry, mixed-methods research, intervention studies, implementation research, and randomized controlled trials. We particularly encourage studies that contribute to practical innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the development of evidence-informed strategies for promoting mental health and well-being in healthcare contexts.

Through this Special Issue, we hope to provide an international platform for scholars and practitioners from nursing, social work, medicine, psychology, public health, and related disciplines to share innovative research, clinical insights, and practical experiences that advance mental health and well-being across healthcare systems.

Keywords