Resilience and Well-Being of Professionals Working in Complex Environments

Dear Colleagues,

High reliability organizations (HROs) are organizations that operate in a physical, psychological, social or political complex environment that has the potential for large-scale risk and harm, but which manage to balance effectiveness, efficiency, and safety. The work sectors that usually fall under this conceptual framework are energy, aviation and transport, military and space, fires and disasters, healthcare, and education (The Health Foundation, 2011). In turn, rapid response teams (RRTs) - commonly defined in the healthcare setting but also existing in other fields - are interdisciplinary teams of trained individuals prepared for rapid mobilization and deployment in critical situations or emergencies (Greiner et al., 2020).

The professionals who make up the HROs or RRTs are relatively frequently exposed to critical situations that sometimes impact their physical or psychological health. The distress derived from these experiences and the proximity to trauma inevitably impacts the performance and responsiveness of professionals and may affect the quality of the service provided to the public (Kim et al., 2019; Schwappach & Boluarte, 2009).

Caring for the well-being of professionals, especially in the framework of HROs and RRTs, is crucial to ensure the resilience of organizations and the provision of a service in conditions of quality and safety. The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized this need. The development of training and support programs (such as psychological first aid or peer support programs) specifically designed to restore the well-being of professionals and reinforce their resilience is fundamental in addressing this issue (de Bienassis, Slawomirski & Klazinga, 2021; Wu, Connors & Everly Jr, 2020).

Papers adding relevant and valuable knowledge regarding the need to reinforce the Resilience and Well-Being of Professionals Working in Complex Environments are welcome in this Special Issue.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Prof. Dr. Irene Carrillo Murcia
Dr. Mercedes Guilabert Mora
Guest Editors

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• high reliability organizations
• rapid response team
• emergency responders
• second victim
• psychological first aid
• crisis intervention
• peer support
• disaster
• catastrophe
• critical incident
• adverse event
• resilience
• well-being
• risk management
• occupational health
• occupational safety