OneCare Group: How to strengthen seafarers’ resilience

McVeigh et al (2017) write resilience is “the capacity to maintain healthy functioning despite increased stressors”. This is particularly relevant for a career as a mariner, where “increased stressors” are a part of norm.

The Maritime Context

Resilience is not determined solely by genetics. Factors which decrease resilience amongst others include poverty, lack of supportive relationships, poor physical health, and poor health habits regarding sleep and nutrition. These may all be over-represented in the population of seafarers. For example, many will report difficulties with maintaining adequate health hygiene onboard, due to noise, vibrations or shift work. Relationships, romantic and filial may be difficult to maintain because of the distance. Others may choose the occupation as a means of escaping poverty.

The implications of this are that the industry could be attracting recruits whose resilience may already be at risk, and they find themselves in a context which will test and stretch their resilience further. This in part could explain why rates of depression are significantly higher in seafarers than in other working and general populations, as per the ITF Seafarers’ Trust and Yale University study.

Studies show that the number of years of seafaring experience correlated with better resilience. However, the direction of this correlation isn’t clear. Are the resilient seafarers staying longer in seafaring positions, or is it that as their career progresses, they become more adapt at the job, and find it easier?

Most research points to separation from family as a primary stressor, and other important factors include the physical shipboard demands, shift work, sleep problems and short rest periods, and social interactions onboard.

It is noteworthy that in a review by Janssen et al (2024) of studies published over a period of ten years, only two studies included women, and in these studies, the number of female participants was less than one per cent. This is indicative of the industry’s gender distribution. However, it means that of the few studies that do exist, these are representative of men. Therefore, we do not have enough information on women seafarers’ resilience.

Supporting Resilience

We can conceptualize resilience as a multi-faceted construct, which means that there are many ways it can be improved, including at an organizational level, as well as at an individual level.

One-way companies can improve resilience of seafarers is to reduce the stressors that deplete resilience.

For example, by having adequate connectivity onboard, safe and comfortable work environments, issuing contracts which do not exceed the regulations set by the Maritime Labour Convention, and decreasing the risk of fatigue, by adhering to regulations which protect seafarers’ rights to adequate rest whilst onboard.

Other proactive measures include:

•  Psycho-education: Providing training on recognizing the signs of mental health issues, as well as training on improving mental health. Increased awareness of the signs and symptoms allows seafarers to take preventative measures, as well as to step forward earlier if they are experiencing difficulties. Training should also aim to generate awareness about each individual’s response to stress, and how they can manage it in healthier ways.
• Providing culturally sensitive-counseling and support: Seafarers should be aware that such services are easily accessible. It is important that such interventions are culturally sensitive, as a seafarer may feel more isolated if he or she perceives that their therapist does not understand their perspective.
• Peer support: This should be encouraged informally, through the organization of social activities onboard. Peer support can also be organized through formal peer and mentoring programmes, particularly for minorities, and younger seafarers, who are more likely to feel isolated. A peer or mentor will allow a seafarer to share experiences and concerns. Studies show that such programmes are beneficial for both parties involved. Firstly, helping someone is known to boost a sense of purpose and achievement, and increase oxytocin and endorphins, chemicals which help us feel good and combat stress. The peer or mentor will also have the opportunity to gain leadership skills, and the chance to acknowledge and use their own wealth of experience gained throughout their career.

Research shows that a significant stressor on seafarers’ is separation from family, and how the separation causes a strain on the seafarers’ spouse and children. Seafarers might face pressure from family to leave their profession. Organizing social activities for families will allow them to feel more connected to a community of other families in similar circumstances.

• Protecting physical health including access to fitness facilities, information on exercise which can be done to maintain physical health on board, access to nutritious food, and regular medical health assessments.
• Digital wellbeing platforms which would provide information on a variety of wellness topics of interest, such as. Such platforms could also be synchronized with wearable monitors which record various health markers such as heart rate, activity, and hours of sleep.
• Soft skills are increasingly recognized as determining a seafarer’s job satisfaction. Training in skills such as Diversity Awareness and Conflict Resolution can directly impact the quality of relationships onboard.

Conclusion

Strengthening the resilience of seafarers has been shown to improve retention and job performance. The above list of measures is not exhaustive and would only work if individuals within the industry acknowledge the need for changing attitudes towards mental health.

The views presented are only those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.