Healthcare employees’ perspectives on organizational communication about preventive mental health interventions: A focus group study

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed healthcare employees to stressful situations with possible long-term mental health consequences, stressing the need for supportive interventions. However, in practice healthcare employees' use of preventive mental health interventions seems limited. Persuasive communication strategies may help to bridge this gap. The aim of this study was to further refine our understanding of healthcare employees' perspectives on organizational communication about preventive mental health interventions. A qualitative approach was used, consisting of 5 focus groups with hospital workers, either with (K = 3) or without (K = 2) direct patient contact. We used vignettes as a method to discuss three different scenarios to reflect the different levels of prevention (primary, secondary, tertiary). Focus group sessions were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. Two researchers independently analyzed the data applying thematic analysis within each prevention level. This qualitative study on the employee perspective on communication about preventive mental health interventions demonstrated an overarching funnel movement in which the source and content/channel become increasingly targeted towards the individual employee as mental health symptoms increase. The primary prevention level revealed the theme 'Multilevel sources of communication and various channels', the secondary prevention level revealed the theme 'Specific sources of communication and specific channels', and the tertiary prevention level revealed the theme 'A central role for supervisors'. A safe culture in the workplace appeared an important prerequisite for timely discussion of employee mental health. These insights contribute to the development of more tailored organizational communication about mental health of healthcare employees.