The efficacy of physical activity to improve the mental wellbeing of healthcare workers: A systematic review
Open accessAbstract
Clinical staff who work in healthcare settings experience work-related stress which can lead to emotional and physical burnout, anxiety, depression, and poorer mental wellbeing. In the general population, exercise and physical activity are associated with greater mental wellbeing, reduced incidence of depression, improvements in mood and sleep quality, and reductions in stress. The aim of this systematic review was to investigate the effects of exercise and physical activity interventions, delivered both in the workplace and outside of work, on mental wellbeing, stress, burnout, depression, anxiety, and sleep in healthcare professionals. Major databases were searched from inception to June 2023 for intervention studies investigating aerobic, non-aerobic exercise and resistance training, or interventions designed to increase physical activity amongst healthcare workers. Study quality was assessed using Cochrane and Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) checklists. The search retrieved 16 intervention studies, including 11 randomised controlled trials (RCTs). There was consistent evidence of a reduction in psychological stress (3/3, 100% of RCTs) and improvement of sleep quality (3/4, 75%) following exercise compared to non-active controls. There was inconclusive evidence regarding the effects of exercise and physical activity on mental wellbeing, depression severity, burnout, traumatic stress, and fatigue. Neither exercise nor physical activity appeared to reduce symptoms of anxiety. Exercise and interventions to increase physical activity may be a viable and effective intervention to improve some aspects of mental wellbeing in healthcare professionals, although more large-scale, high-quality trials are needed to establish the full range of benefits.
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Beyond structured training programs, various other individual-level workplace interventions may contribute to strengthening resilience.
“Beyond structured training programs, there are various other individual-level workplace interventions that may contribute to strengthening resilience (91–96).”
From Digital resilience interventions for healthcare workers: a systematic review (2025) · cites this paper as [94]
Section 3.5 (p. 7) reports improved resilience in one study of an unsupervised, smartphone-based home workout app for healthcare workers. That supports the possibility that an individual-level intervention may strengthen resilience, but it does not establish that various workplace interventions do so; the intervention associated with resilience was home-based. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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Digital resilience interventions for healthcare workers: a systematic review
Larsson, M., Ho, D. M., Kirschner, M., Seifritz, E., & Manoliu, A. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1519670 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
- Authors
- Martland, R. N., Ma, R., Paleri, V., Valmaggia, L., Riches, S., Firth, J., & Stubbs, B.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Martland, Rebecca Nicole
- ORCID
- Venue
- Mental Health and Physical Activity
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2024-03
- Volume
- 26
- Pages
- 100577
- ISSN
- 1755-2966 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4391743850
- Cited by
- 35
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 3
- FWCI
- 2.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Mental health and physical activity (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR301206)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Burnout
- Keywords
- physical activity, exercise intervention, psychological well-being, healthcare workers, occupational stress, burnout, depression, anxiety, sleep quality, workplace interventions, resistance training, aerobic exercise, fatigue
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