ALBANY, NY, USA: Supporting mental health is now a big priority for many employers who want to show their commitment to promoting wellness in the workplace. However, burnout among health care personnel continues to be a cause for concern and can lead to issues such as high employee turnover, absenteeism, depression, and a greater probability of medical errors, thereby threatening patient safety. With a focus on mental health, recent research examined levels of burnout experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic by oral health providers in US nonprofit dental facilities serving low-income families or individuals. It also highlighted the contributing factors and strategies used to increase workforce resilience.
ALBANY, NY, USA: Supporting mental health is now a big priority for many employers who want to show their commitment to promoting wellness in the workplace. However, burnout among health care personnel continues to be a cause for concern and can lead to issues such as high employee turnover, absenteeism, depression, and a greater probability of medical errors, thereby threatening patient safety. With a focus on mental health, recent research examined levels of burnout experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic by oral health providers in US nonprofit dental facilities serving low-income families or individuals. It also highlighted the contributing factors and strategies used to increase workforce resilience.
The report, published by the Oral Health Workforce Research Center at the University at Albany Center for Health Workforce Studies, used data from the 2021 online survey by the Health Choice Network that included information on physicians working in 25 centers community health across the US. The survey collected information on 588 respondents, including those working in primary care, oral health, and mental and behavioral health settings. The oral health practitioners were a total of 33 dentists, 12 dental hygienists and 25 dental assistants.
It found that the prevalence of burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic was uniformly high across all types of physicians. Namely, 79.3% of oral health providers reported burnout, similar to 80.1% of primary care providers surveyed and 76.2% of mental and behavioral health providers. Most oral health providers attributed their burnout to a chaotic work environment and a lack of effective teamwork in their organization.
Seeking to better assess the environmental and personal factors that contributed to burnout among oral health providers, the researchers then conducted in-depth interviews with 26 people who worked in various positions at nonprofit dental organizations across the US in 2022. The purpose of the interviews was to gather information about the impact of stressors related to COVID-19 on the stress and anxiety levels of dental staff and to determine whether burnout and stress affected employee recruitment and retention.
Among the environmental factors affecting the dental staff were a lack of uniformity in policies and requirements and uncertainty about routes of infection. Factors such as the closure of schools and day care centers, loss of family jobs, illness and death from COVID-19, and isolation from social interactions also contributed to poor mental health.
At the organizational level, the stressors reported were mostly related to difficulties obtaining and funding personal protective equipment, changing guidelines regarding aerosol generation procedures, reassignment of clinicians to non-traditional roles, staff layoffs, and workforce shortages. .
Finally, with regard to individual-level stressors, almost all respondents suggested that the lack of day care and personal schools was a major problem, especially for single parents and women. It was also one of the main reasons that forced assistants and hygienists to leave the profession.
“It’s not just important to be aware of burnout, but to understand the reasons why health workers are experiencing it,” said Center for Health Workforce Studies director Dr Jean Moore. “Once specific stressors are identified, then strategies can be implemented to address them at the organizational and personal level to reduce burnout for these providers,” she continued.
To address stressors, organizations implemented various strategies to promote well-being and self-care among workers. These included more holiday time, extra pay, more time off for staff and more flexible working hours for parents.
Further research is needed to assess the prevalence of dental burnout and potential work and family factors associated with burnout, using a nationally representative sample of dentists, hygienists, and assistants.
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