Health Care Worker Burnout and Perceived Capacity to Address Social Needs

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Organizational Behavior
• Occupational Health

Background:

• Health care organizations are expanding social care programs within medical delivery.
• Burnout is a potential unintended consequence of this expansion, particularly for nonphysician staff.
• Limited understanding exists regarding the impact on healthcare team members.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize perceived capacity to address patient social needs among diverse healthcare workers.
• To examine the association between perceived capacity elements and burnout.
• To utilize a theory-informed model for organizational behavior change.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional analysis of a survey of approximately 1900 healthcare staff across 46 organizations.
• Exploratory factor analysis to identify factors within the 'Perceived Capacity to Address Social Needs' domain.
• Logistic regression to examine associations between capacity elements and burnout.

Main Results:

• Identified key capacity factors: Motivation, Organizational Reinforcement, and task-specific capacities (Identification, Care Provision, Resource Linkage).
• Lower motivation (OR 0.71) and organizational reinforcement (OR 0.51) were significantly associated with higher burnout rates.
• Associations between behavioral conditions and burnout varied by organizational role.

Conclusions:

• Healthcare staff face increasing demands to address patients' social needs.
• Motivation and organizational reinforcement are critical factors in mitigating burnout.
• A systems approach aligning organizational priorities, staff motivation, and skills is necessary to prevent burnout.