Development of a New Instrument to Measure Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Psychometrics
• Healthcare Professional Well-being

Background:

• Workplace mental health is crucial for healthcare professionals.
• Existing instruments may not fully capture the nuances of well-being in healthcare settings.
• The Office of the Surgeon General's (OSG) framework provides essential components for workplace mental health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and pilot test a novel instrument, the Augusta Scale.
• To measure workplace mental health and well-being among health professionals.
• To align the instrument with the OSG's 5 essentials framework.

Main Methods:

• Developed the 22-item Augusta Scale using Qualtrics based on the OSG framework.
• Piloted the scale with health professionals serving as preceptors in Georgia.
• Assessed psychometric properties including reliability (Cronbach's α, Ω) and convergent validity.

Main Results:

• Achieved a high response rate of 97.8% (583/596).
• Demonstrated strong internal consistency with an overall Cronbach's α of 0.94.
• Confirmed convergent validity through an inverse relationship with burnout perception.

Conclusions:

• The Augusta Scale is the first instrument to assess workplace mental health using the OSG framework.
• Pilot test findings support the validity and reliability of the Augusta Scale for Georgia health professionals.
• The scale offers a valuable tool for evaluating and improving healthcare workplace mental health.