[How do community-based mental health staff in Austria perceive their job? -- a qualitative study].
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to explore, using a simple qualitative design, how community mental health staff in Austria perceive their job.


METHODS
195 community-based mental health professionals answered seven open questions on how they perceive their job. The main areas covered were the most important tasks of the job, skills necessary to perform these tasks, as well as positive and negative aspects of the job. Answers were subjected to thematic content analysis.


RESULTS
For most professionals, contact with clients and team colleagues were the major rewards of the job. Aspects experienced as stressful were the clients' illness, role ambiguity, team conflicts and lack of time. Necessary skills many respondents did not feel competent in were specialised knowledge and psychosocial skills.


CONCLUSIONS
It might be useful to revise existing forms of collaboration within multiprofessional teams. The responsibility for difficult patients may be shared by several members of the team, who should contribute their specific knowledge. Training should be tailored towards the needs of the different professional groups and focus on those skills that are required in community mental health care.
Swoboda
Hemma
H
Abteilung für Sozialpsychiatrie und Evaluationsforschung, Universitätsklinik für Psychiatrie, Universität Wien. hemma.swoboda@meduniwien.ac.at
Sibitz
Ingrid
I
Frühwald
Stefan
S
Klug
Günther
G
Bauer
Belinda
B
Priebe
Stefan
S
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001317:Austria; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000523:psychology; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003156:Community Mental Health Services; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003625:Data Collection; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007587:Job Description; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology