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Retention challenge facing A ustralia's rural community mental health services: Service managers' perspectives
Author(s) -
Cosgrave Catherine,
Hussain Rafat,
Maple Myfanwy
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
australian journal of rural health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.48
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1440-1584
pISSN - 1038-5282
DOI - 10.1111/ajr.12205
Subject(s) - staffing , mental health , workforce , nursing , rural area , service (business) , community health , medicine , rural health , business , public health , public relations , psychology , marketing , political science , psychiatry , pathology , law
Objective This paper aims to contribute to the development of a more sustainable Australian rural community mental health workforce by comparing the findings from a literature search investigating impacting factors on retention with the experiences of community mental health service managers running services in rural A ustralia. Design Semi‐structured interviews. Setting Public health sector, rural N ew S outh W ales. Participants Five community mental health managers, running services in rural A ustralia. Main outcome measures Interviews were undertaken as a pilot for a broader qualitative study investigating factors influencing the decision to stay or leave among community mental health professionals working in rural positions. The purpose of undertaking this pilot study was to test for validity and relevance of the retention phenomena and help inform the research design for the main study. Results Three key retention focussed themes were identified: (i) Staffing is a persistent challenge; (ii) Small remote towns pose the biggest challenge; and (iii) The decision to stay or leave is complex and multifactorial. Conclusions The findings of this pilot study support previous research and contribute to the understanding of influences on retention among health professionals working in rural community mental health services. Importantly, those who have worked for several years in rural positions hold important information through which to explore factors that impact retention in rural and remote regions.