Investigating Attraction and Retention of Staff Within Public Mental Health Services in Victoria, Australia: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Study (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND A large proportion of Australians are affected by mental illness each year, and treatment gaps are well known. To meet current and future demands and enable access to treatment which is safe, effective, and acceptable, a robust and sustainable mental health workforce is required. Factors reported to attract people to work within the mental health sector include aspirations to help others, having an interest in mental health and human behaviour, desires to make a difference and do something worthwhile, personal lived experience, recognition and value of discipline-specific roles, and being able to use skills and knowledge within their professional framework. However, despite the various reasons people choose to enter the public mental health workforce, recruitment and retention continue to be ongoing challenges. OBJECTIVE This study aims to explore factors related to attraction, recruitment, and retention of the public mental health workforce in Victoria, Australia. The information obtained will be used to provide specific strategies that will aid in addressing the identified challenges. METHODS The study is a multi-site, mixed methods, cross-sectional study to be conducted at four public hospital services within Victoria, Australia: two in metropolitan and two in regional/rural locations. Current, previous and non-mental health workers will be asked to complete a 20-25 minute online survey, and offered participation in an optional 30-60 minute qualitative interview. Both aspects of the project will examine factors related to attraction, recruitment, and retention in the public mental health workforce. Differences between groups (i.e., current, past, and non-mental health workers), as well as location, discipline and health setting will be examined. Regression analyses will be performed to determine the factors most strongly associated with retention (i.e., job satisfaction), and turnover intention. Qualitative data will be transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed to identify common themes. RESULTS As of May 2023, we enrolled 539 participants in the online survey, and 27 participants in the qualitative interview. CONCLUSIONS To understand issues of attraction, recruitment, and retention specifically within Victoria, Australia, this project seeks to build on current knowledge from within Australia, as well as consider available evidence from international sources. The current project also supports several recommendations made by the Royal Commission in Victoria’s Mental Health System, and results will enable critical workforce planning to ensure alignment of job supply with the demand required by the mental health system, in order to create a sustainable mental health workforce.