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Lived Experience as a Protective Factor for Mental Health Workers
Courtney von Hippel1, Loren Brener1, Grenville Rose1
1Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia (von Hippel); Centre for Social Research in Health, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales, Australia (Brener); Flourish Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (Rose).
Mental health workers with lived experience of mental illness are less susceptible to burnout when clients do not improve. Their personal recovery journey offers resilience, positively impacting job attitudes and retention in the mental health field.
Area of Science:
- Mental Health
- Psychology
- Occupational Health
Background:
- Client non-improvement in mental health treatment is linked to negative job attitudes, burnout, and staff turnover.
- The potential buffering effect of lived experience on mental health worker burnout remains underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether lived experience moderates the relationship between perceived client non-improvement and mental health worker burnout.
- To examine the impact of lived experience on job satisfaction, engagement, well-being, and intentions to resign.
Main Methods:
- A survey was administered to 179 mental health providers in Australia.
- Measures included perceptions of client improvement, client-related burnout, job satisfaction, job engagement, workplace well-being, and intentions to resign.
- Moderated mediation analyses were employed to test the hypotheses.
Main Results:
- Mental health providers experiencing client non-improvement reported burnout.
- Lived experience significantly buffered staff from burnout related to perceived client non-improvement.
- Providers with lived experience demonstrated more positive job attitudes compared to those without.
Conclusions:
- Lived experience acts as a protective factor against burnout in mental health professionals when clients do not show improvement.
- Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms behind this buffering effect.
- Findings suggest potential for interventions to enhance staff resilience and retention in the mental health sector.
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