Time, finances, energy leading barriers to health care worker access to mental health care
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Key takeaways:
- The most popular concerns were constraints on time, finances and energy.
- A screening found that 24% of participants were likely to have major depression and 35% were likely to have generalized anxiety disorder.
NEW YORK — Time, financial and energy constraints are the leading barriers to mental health care access for health care workers, according to research presented at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting.
“Almost every hospital in America has resources available, but our research really dives in to identify the barriers,” Nicholas Flugrad, MD, from the department of behavioral health at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, told Healio. “It is encouraging that stigmatization to mental health resources is on the decline.”
In a cross-sectional survey-based study, Flugrad and colleagues evaluated the burden of mental illness and access to resources and treatment for health care workers. The survey included 149 participants in various health care roles including nurses, physicians, pharmacists and support staff.
Participants completed a major depression and anxiety screening, which found that 24% were likely to have major depression and 35% were likely to have generalized anxiety disorder.
When asked about their concerns in seeking mental health treatment, the most popular answers were time constraints, financial constraints and energy constraints.
When asked about perceived negative impact of seeking mental health treatment on their careers, 39.33% reported no impact at all. Loss of confidentiality of mental health care was a concern for 36% of participants, increased risk of negative performance review was a concern for 30% and being declined a raise or promotion was a concern for 26%.
“Almost every hospital offers programs for wellness, but actually having health care workers access them is what you want,” Flugrad said “You don’t want just a paper program. You want an actual program that is helping.”