What are the barriers and facilitators for health and social care professionals accessing organizational wellbeing support services? A mixed-methods study

Abstract

Recent years have seen increases in workers’ stress levels and sickness absence rates. Organizations have increased the number of wellbeing support services they offer employees, but uptake has been poor. This study investigated barriers and facilitators to accessing organizational wellbeing support services. A two-study, mixed-methods design in health and social care employees was used. Study 1 conducted a directed content analysis of qualitative interview data based on the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to identify barriers and facilitators. These were translated into survey items. Study 2 conducted a quantitative cross-sectional survey to assess whether the number of barriers and facilitators was associated with the likelihood of service use. Study 1 (n = 20) created a survey list of 23 barriers and 23 facilitators. Study 2 (n = 162) found that a greater number of facilitators was associated with a greater likelihood of service access, but number of barriers was not. We concluded that increasing facilitators may increase employee uptake of wellbeing support services. Facilitators include making access routes to services simple and efficient and circulating regular information to staff about available services.