Identifying Solutions for the Workforce Challenges Facing Community Mental Health Support Workers: A Qualitative Study.
Addressing workforce issues such as recruitment, retention, and skill development is essential for ensuring that community psychosocial and mental health programs can meet growing demand and provide high-quality care. This paper examines current efforts to tackle these challenges and explores additi...
| Publicado en: | Community Mental Health Journal Vol. 61; no. 7; pp. 1324 - 1334 |
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| Autores principales: | , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Springer Nature
Oct2025
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=187724804&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 187724804 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00103853 CMH jtl: Community Mental Health Journal issn: 00103853 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Oct2025 vid: 61 iid: 7 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 187724804 10.1007/s10597-025-01473-w ppf: 1324 ppct: 10 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 787KB tig: atl: Identifying Solutions for the Workforce Challenges Facing Community Mental Health Support Workers: A Qualitative Study. aug: au: Rattray, Megan Milanese, Emma Shelby-James, Tania affil: https://ror.org/01kpzv902 Discipline of General Practice, College of Medicine & Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia su: Australia Community health services Supervision of employees Qualitative research Interviewing Work environment Leadership Mental illness Wages Paradigms (Social sciences) Flextime Ability Communication Online education Honesty Training Employees' workload Employee retention Endowments Computer software Research funding Descriptive statistics Judgment sampling Thematic analysis Surveys Employee recruitment Research methodology Business networks Data analysis software Webinars sug: subj: Community health services Supervision of employees Qualitative research Interviewing Work environment Leadership Mental illness Wages Paradigms (Social sciences) Flextime Ability Communication Online education Honesty Training Employees' workload Australia Residential Mental Health and Substance Abuse Facilities Other local, municipal and regional public administration Community health centres All Other Outpatient Care Centers Other Individual and Family Services Software publishers (except video game publishers) Computer and Computer Peripheral Equipment and Software Merchant Wholesalers Computer and software stores Computer, computer peripheral and pre-packaged software merchant wholesalers Administration of Human Resource Programs (except Education, Public Health, and Veterans' Affairs Programs) Human Resources Consulting Services Grantmaking Foundations Employee retention Endowments Computer software Research funding Descriptive statistics Judgment sampling Thematic analysis Surveys Employee recruitment Research methodology Business networks Data analysis software Webinars keyword: Medical and Health Sciences Public Health and Health Services Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Psychology Mental health Psychosocial Recruitment Retention Skill Workforce Medical and Health Sciences Public Health and Health Services Psychology and Cognitive Sciences Psychology Mental health Psychosocial Recruitment Retention Skill Workforce ab: Addressing workforce issues such as recruitment, retention, and skill development is essential for ensuring that community psychosocial and mental health programs can meet growing demand and provide high-quality care. This paper examines current efforts to tackle these challenges and explores additional measures required. This qualitative study, framed within a naturalistic paradigm, employed semi-structured interviews with mental health support staff across Australia. Interviews, lasting approximately 37 min (range, 23–55 min), were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using a combination of inductive and deductive thematic analysis, whereby participants' verbatim codes were initially mapped across the three workforce issues: recruitment, retention, and skill development. Solutions for each issue were then analysed inductively, with subthemes emerging from common concepts. Themes and subthemes were discussed among the authors until consensus was reached. Sixteen staff members were interviewed, most of whom were female (n = 9, 56%) and held management roles (n = 10, 62%), while the rest were in client-facing positions (n = 6, 38%). To improve staff recruitment, subthemes included revising recruitment processes and standards, dispelling misconceptions and promoting the field and leveraging existing networks and resources. Staff retention subthemes included offering competitive salary packages and incentives, fostering a positive work culture with engaged leadership and encouraging supportive and effective practices. Lastly, upskilling staff subthemes included engaging in regular or mandatory training and supervision, encouraging resource sharing and networking and supporting and granting opportunities to upskill. The findings offer insights and recommendations for policymakers, administrators, and practitioners to strengthen the community mental health workforce. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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