{"title":"Assessing Mental Healthcare Worker Experiences of Workplace Fairness and Organizational Value: A National Survey of Peer-Support Specialists.","authors":"K Megan Collier, Cal J Halvorsen, Karen L Fortuna","doi":"10.1177/21650799231200028","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Peer-support specialists-individuals with diagnosed mental illnesses who provide support services to other adults with diagnosed mental health issues-often feel stigmatized and undervalued at work, leading to negative personal- and job-related outcomes. Given their important link to positive service user outcomes, this study assessed how peer-support specialists perceive fairness and feel valued in the workplace.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Peer-support specialists (<i>N</i> = 274) were recruited online from peer-support specialist listservs, social media groups, and patient-run organizations to take a cross-sectional survey that included a 14-item scale on how workplace fairness relates to job satisfaction and four questions on how valued they felt by administrators, clinicians, the people they serve, and fellow peer-support specialists. Descriptive and bivariate statistics were used to assess total scores and differences by gender and race.</p><p><strong>Findings: </strong>Ranging in age from 20 to 77 years and identifying predominantly as White (81.0%) and female (62.9%), respondents noted that fair practices in the workplace would increase their job satisfaction, with no significant differences observed by gender or race. Most peer-support specialists felt valued by the people they serve (97.1%) and fellow peer-support specialists (92.7%). However, fewer reported feeling valued by administrators (64.6%) and clinicians (60.6%).</p><p><strong>Conclusions/application to practice: </strong>Peer-support specialists value fairness at the workplace and feel undervalued by some staff. This study highlights peer-support specialists' important role in behavioral health services and suggests that healthcare professionals, including occupational health specialists, are important stakeholders in creating fairer workplaces and increasing peer-support specialists' sense of being valued, leading to improved personal and organizational outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":48968,"journal":{"name":"Workplace Health & Safety","volume":" ","pages":"14-20"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11428141/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Workplace Health & Safety","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/21650799231200028","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2023/10/16 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NURSING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Peer-support specialists-individuals with diagnosed mental illnesses who provide support services to other adults with diagnosed mental health issues-often feel stigmatized and undervalued at work, leading to negative personal- and job-related outcomes. Given their important link to positive service user outcomes, this study assessed how peer-support specialists perceive fairness and feel valued in the workplace.
Methods: Peer-support specialists (N = 274) were recruited online from peer-support specialist listservs, social media groups, and patient-run organizations to take a cross-sectional survey that included a 14-item scale on how workplace fairness relates to job satisfaction and four questions on how valued they felt by administrators, clinicians, the people they serve, and fellow peer-support specialists. Descriptive and bivariate statistics were used to assess total scores and differences by gender and race.
Findings: Ranging in age from 20 to 77 years and identifying predominantly as White (81.0%) and female (62.9%), respondents noted that fair practices in the workplace would increase their job satisfaction, with no significant differences observed by gender or race. Most peer-support specialists felt valued by the people they serve (97.1%) and fellow peer-support specialists (92.7%). However, fewer reported feeling valued by administrators (64.6%) and clinicians (60.6%).
Conclusions/application to practice: Peer-support specialists value fairness at the workplace and feel undervalued by some staff. This study highlights peer-support specialists' important role in behavioral health services and suggests that healthcare professionals, including occupational health specialists, are important stakeholders in creating fairer workplaces and increasing peer-support specialists' sense of being valued, leading to improved personal and organizational outcomes.
期刊介绍:
Workplace Health & Safety: Promoting Environments Conducive to Well-Being and Productivity is the official publication of the American Association of Occupational Health Nursing, Inc. (AAOHN). It is a scientific peer-reviewed Journal. Its purpose is to support and promote the practice of occupational and environmental health nurses by providing leading edge research findings and evidence-based clinical practices. It publishes articles that span the range of issues facing occupational and environmental health professionals, including emergency and all-hazard preparedness, health promotion, safety, productivity, environmental health, case management, workers'' compensation, business and leadership, compliance and information management.