By Jillian Hughes
This World Mental Health Day, October 10, the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) is declaring “It is Time to Prioritize Mental Health in the Workplace,” by selecting this tagline as the theme for a global campaign. The campaign calls on employees, employers, and stakeholders to engage in prioritizing mental health across all sectors, promoting workplaces that protect and support mental health.
In alignment with this mission, the Steinberg Institute is advancing efforts to improve mental health in the workplace, particularly within California’s behavioral health sector.
As part of the research arm of our Vision 2030 initiative, the Steinberg Institute recently launched a survey aimed at better understanding the needs and challenges facing direct care providers in the state’s behavioral health workforce. Survey participants included psychiatrists, psychiatric technicians, clinical psychologists, primary care providers, registered nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, school psychologists, professional counselors, marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, community health workers, and peer support specialists.
Early findings from the survey paint a dual picture of the mental health of California’s behavioral health workforce:
- 85% of respondents said it is “very true” or “completely true” that their work is meaningful to them.
- 86% of respondents indicated that they would recommend their job as a career.
- More than half of respondents reported feeling physically or emotionally exhausted at work to a moderate or greater degree over the past two weeks.
While most workers find joy and meaning in their profession, so much so that they would recommend it as a career to others, the majority of workers find that their work takes a significant toll on the body and mind.
This dual finding is made even more concerning when considering California currently has the highest number of designated mental health professional shortage areas (HPSAs) in the country, and needs to sustain a resilient workforce to meet the growing demand for mental health and substance use care.
With these early insights and more survey findings on workplace culture, administrative burdens, and the role of technology in daily work, the Steinberg Institute will release a comprehensive report on California’s behavioral health workforce in 2025. It will inform strategies to support a mentally healthy behavioral health workforce reflective of California’s diverse needs.