Effects of Interventions to Improve Help-Seeking Related to Mental Health Among Workers: A Systematic Review.

Burdens caused by mental disorders are most common in the working age. Although mental health-related disorders are typically preventable or treatable, individuals are often unable to seek help. Moreover, there is a lack of systematic reviews that elucidate the effectiveness of interventions to improve help-seeking related to workers' mental health, despite the greater burden of mental health issues during the working age. Thus, the current study attempts to address this research gap by conducting a systematic review. A literature search was conducted on five databases (The Cochrane Library, PubMed, CINAHL via EBSCOhost, PsycINFO via EBSCOhost, and Ichushi-Web), concluding on February 1, 2022. The inclusion criteria were randomized controlled trials, quantitative studies, studies whose outcomes included help-seeking related to mental health for workers, and studies that were published in English or Japanese. The exclusion criteria were studies that lacked pretest data for outcome measurements and whose outcomes targeted help-seeking regarding the mental health of military personnel. The quality of the selected studies was assessed using the Modified Jadad Scale. A meta-analysis was not conducted due to the diverse outcomes and measurements for help-seeking. The review was conducted on 10 reports, with participant numbers ranging from 39 to 1,557. Only two out of seven interventions to measure help-seeking attitudes reported effects at posttest. Although two interventions to measure help-seeking intention produced effects at posttest, no study revealed any effect at follow-up beyond six months. One intervention to measure help-seeking behavior pointed to an effect at posttest, and only one intervention reported effects at the one-year follow-up. Regarding interventions to measure informal help, only one found no effect at the three- and six-month follow-up. This study failed to draw conclusions about the effects of interventions due to a lack of related studies. However, the findings underscore the difficulty in improving help-seeking pertaining to mental health for workers. Thus, further research is required to improve help-seeking tailored to the complex characteristics of workers' conditions.