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  Workforce Barriers and Needed Supports to Enhance Behavioral Health Service Provision for Older Adults in Nebraska

  Cecilia Y.M. Poon, Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway, Yadi Liu, Charles Yale, Deepanjali Bhale, Erin O. Schneider, Julia F. Houfek, Christine Chasek, Marley Doyle, and Kendra Ratnapradipa

  Nearly 20% of US older adults have mental health concerns, but few mental health professionals specialize in this population. In Nebraska, where almost 17% of Nebraska’s population is >65 years of age, BHECN conducted a survey to understand provider attitudes about and abilities to serve the state’s older population. Results from this online survey of licensed mental health practitioners in 2022 showed that 61% of responding practitioners were rural, 27% did not provide direct clinical services to older adults, and only 18% of their time was spent working with older adults. Barriers to providing care to older adults included Medicare and insurance restrictions, limited referrals, and limited specialized training opportunities. To improve care for older adults, participants indicated a need for expanded telehealth infrastructure and specialized training. Results support ongoing efforts to further develop statewide research and training in aging and mental health, as well as policy change to support the geriatric behavioral health workforce.

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  Barriers and Promoters of Retention of Direct Care Workers in Community Mental Health Agencies

  Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway, Brent Khan, Mogens (Bill) Baerentzen, and Zaeema Naveed

  Demand for behavioral health direct-care providers is increasing due to shortage of licensed behavioral health providers. However, high turnover has been reported among them with limited exploratory research. The present study aimed to identify a wide variety of barriers and promoters of retention and strategies to retain direct care workers. An online, self-administered survey designed to measure demographics, job satisfaction, perceived importance of various job aspects, intention to leave, perceived stress and sources of stress was administered among 179 direct care workers from four agencies. Multiple logistic regression exhibited higher odds of intending to leave for those who had higher general perceived stress (OR=1.3, CI=1.1-1.7) and those who experienced stress from supervisor (OR=5.0, CI=1.7-14.4) and organizational culture (OR=4.2, CI=1.1-18.4). Work-related stress is a prevalent issue among direct-care providers and may be associated with turnover. Policy formulation and implementation directed at strategies to reduce stress may be warranted to improve retention.