Psychosocial, clinical, and organizational perspectives of the risks of remote work for employees` mental health

Abstract

The objective of the study was to analyze the modern data on the risks of remote work influence on the employees` mental health from psychosocial, clinical, and organizational perspectives. Methods. The analysis of literary sources, policy documents, publications in the mass media with an emphasis on the period from the beginning of the spread of the new coronavirus infection 2019-nCoV to the present. Results. The current state of the problem of the impact of remote work on the employees` mental health in Russia and in and in other countries during the global COVID-19 pandemic is analyzed. The causal relationships of medical, social, and organizational perspectives of labor activity are considered, and strategies for prevention of negative effects are studied. The widespread using of remote work all over the world is due to the need to limit the direct interpersonal contacts of citizens to contain the spread of infection. It is established that employees of organizations that perform labor functions remotely can be recognized as a type of risk group for mental, behavioral, and addictive disorders due to medical and social perspectives. The development of self-employment and the provision of services on the principles of freelancing may contribute to reducing the number of employees covered by preventive maintenance medical examinations and complicate the early detection of mental and somatic deviations in freelance workers. Conclusion. The result of the growing popularity of remote work is the spread of a hybrid work regime, which requires a comparative assessment of the medical and social risk factors of remote workers, amendments to several regulatory documents as well as the development of evidence based psychohygienic methodological recommendations for employers and early detection of employees with contraindications to remote work.