Resilience enhancement interventions for disaster rescue workers: a systematic review

Abstract

Resilience is defined as the ability of individuals to adapt to stress and adversity. In recent years, the concept of resilience in the context of disaster, particularly that of disaster rescue workers, has received considerable attention from academic researchers, disaster response organizations, and policymakers involved in disaster management. This systematic review aimed to identify interventions designed to enhance the resilience of disaster rescue workers. A systematic search was conducted from inception to January 31, 2024, in ten electronic databases: ISI Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PILOTS, PsycInfo, and the CNKI. A manual search of the reference lists of the included articles and an author search were conducted to identify additional relevant literature. A total of 22 studies that aimed to enhance resilience among disaster rescue workers were included in this review. These interventions focused on resilience-related knowledge and skills, stress and energy management, coping strategies, mindfulness, and psychological first aid. The duration of these interventions ranged from 1 to 24 h within 8 weeks, with sessions conducted in-person or online in group formats. Individual resilience, coping, social support, mindfulness, and burnout improvements were reported. The most common types of interventions were psychoeducation, followed by mindfulness-based training. However, the methodological quality of these interventions was generally sub-optimal. A well-designed intervention study is needed to enhance the resilience of disaster rescue workers.

Keywords: Disaster; Interventions; Rescue workers; Resilience; Systematic review.

Fig. 1

The process of literature search and selection