Retention challenge facing Australia's rural community mental health services: Service managers' perspectives

Objective: This paper aims to contribute to the development of a more sustainable Australian rural community mental health workforce by comparing the findings from a literature search investigating impacting factors on retention with the experiences of community mental health service managers running services in rural Australia. Design: Semi-structured interviews. Setting: Public health sector, rural New South Wales. Participants: Five community mental health managers, running services in rural Australia. Main outcome measures: Interviews were undertaken as a pilot for a broader qualitative study investigating factors influencing the decision to stay or leave among community mental health professionals working in rural positions. The purpose of undertaking this pilot study was to test for validity and relevance of the retention phenomena and help inform the research design for the main study. Results: Three key retention focussed themes were identified: (i) Staffing is a persistent challenge; (ii) Small remote towns pose the biggest challenge; and (iii) The decision to stay or leave is complex and multifactorial. Conclusions: The findings of this pilot study support previous research and contribute to the understanding of influences on retention among health professionals working in rural community mental health services. Importantly, those who have worked for several years in rural positions hold important information through which to explore factors that impact retention in rural and remote regions.