Autonomy in work location decision and burnout in behavioral health providers: Lessons learned from COVID-19.

Myra Kim H, Grau PP, Sripada RK, Van T, Takamine L, Burgess J, Zivin K. Autonomy in work location decision and burnout in behavioral health providers: Lessons learned from COVID-19. Journal of affective disorders reports. 2023 Dec 1; 14:DOI: 10.1016/j.jadr.2023.100652.

Related HSR&D Project(s)

• IIR 17-262 – Caring for the caregiver: predictors and consequences of VA mental health provider burnout
• RCS 21-138 – Research Career Scientist Award

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.    Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions

Search for Abstract from PubMed

---

Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: The ability to choose one''s work-location can influence burnout from employment. We sought to evaluate potential associations between autonomy in work-location decision and burnout. METHODS: We used 2020 Veterans Health Administration Annual All Employee Survey data from behavioral health providers at 129 medical facilities. Based on responses to items in a COVID-19 module related to teleworking frequency and reasons for not teleworking both pre- and during COVID-19, we generated six groups representing potentially differing levels of work-location decision autonomy. We hypothesized that greater autonomy is associated with less burnout. RESULTS: Psychologists reported highest burnout (40.1%, 1801/4494), followed by psychiatrists (35.6%, 703/1976) and social workers (31.0%, 3421/11,051). Adjusting for covariates including workload, providers newly approved for telework during COVID-19 showed 1.28 (95% CI = 1.03-1.59), 1.71 (1.25-2.35), and 1.35 (0.86-2.12) times higher odds of burnout among social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists, respectively, compared to providers chose not to telework during COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: Providers who chose to keep coming into work in person reported less burnout than providers who previously could not telework and are teleworking during the pandemic. Greater autonomy in work-location decision might have greater importance in reducing burnout in behavioral health providers than having the ability to telework per se.