Use it or lose it? Identifying reasons for the low use of psychosocial support by hospital staff

Human Resources for Health

Research

Frank van de Baan¹  Dirk Ruwaard¹  Daan Westra¹  Rachel Gifford¹  Lieze Poesen²  Bram Fleuren²  Fred Zijlstra² 

[1] Department of Health Services Research, Care and Public Health Research Institute (CAPHRI), Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, 6229 GT, Maastricht, The Netherlands;Department of Work and Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, 6229 ER, Maastricht, The Netherlands;

关键词: Well-being;    Mental health;    Healthcare;    Healthcare workers;    Organizational support;    Mixed-methods;    Crisis;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12960-023-00830-8

 received in 2022-10-13, accepted in 2023-05-28,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPsychosocial support programs are a way for hospitals to support the mental health of their staff. However, while support is needed, utilization of support by hospital staff remains low. This study aims to identify reasons for non-use and elements that are important to consider when offering psychosocial support.MethodsThis mixed-method, multiple case study used survey data and in-depth interviews to assess the extent of psychosocial support use, reasons for non-use and perceived important elements regarding the offering of psychosocial support among Dutch hospital staff. The study focused on a time of especially high need, namely the COVID-19 pandemic. Descriptive statistics were used to assess frequency of use among 1514 staff. The constant comparative method was used to analyze answers provided to two open-ended survey questions (n = 274 respondents) and in-depth interviews (n = 37 interviewees).ResultsThe use of psychosocial support decreased from 8.4% in December 2020 to 3.6% by September 2021. We identified four main reasons for non-use of support: deeming support unnecessary, deeming support unsuitable, being unaware of the availability, or feeling undeserving of support. Furthermore, we uncovered four important elements: offer support structurally after the crisis, adjust support to diverse needs, ensure accessibility and awareness, and an active role for supervisors.ConclusionsOur results show that the low use of psychosocial support by hospital staff is shaped by individual, organizational, and support-specific factors. These factors can be targeted to increase use of psychosocial support, whereby it is important to also focus on the wider hospital workforce in addition to frontline staff.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023