Current status and optimization strategies for mental health workforce development in Panzhihua city

Zhang Mei; Liu Shanshan; Wu Haiyang; Fan Mengjie; Wan Kang; Lan Junshi; Xu Wenhao

doi:10.11986/j.issn.1673-873X.2025.07.01

Abstract：Objective To investigate the current status of mental health workforce development in Panzhihua City,identify core problems,and propose targeted optimization strategies to provide scientific evidence for municipal authorities in planning men-tal health personnel development.Methods The questionnaire survey targeted frontline medical personnel engaged in mental health work in Panzhihua City.Semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff from the Panzhihua Municipal Health Commission responsible for mental health management,frontline mental health medical personnel,and managers of relevant u-nits.A total of 320 valid questionnaires were returned via the Wenjuanxing(online questionnaire platform),with an effective response rate of 98.8％;the research team also completed interviews at 10 related medical institutions.Results Among re-spondents,81.2％were female;the sample was predominantly young,with 48.8％aged 18-30 and 38.8％aged 31-44.Educational level was mainly bachelor's degree(70.6％).By job category in mental health work,physicians accounted for 14.7％,rehabilitation therapists 3.8％,psychotherapists 2.8％,nurses 72.2％,and social workers 5.0％.Current monthly income between 5,000 RMB and＜10,000 RMB accounted for 58.1％.Years engaged in mental health work were mainly over 5 years and under 16 years(35.6％).Employment status was dominated(60.0％)by contract(non-staff employees),while administrative and public-institution posts together accounted for 36.3％.Most respondents worked in tertiary hospitals(76.3％)and in general hospitals(80.9％).Participants who had received professional mental health training accounted for 81.5％;only 29.7％felt their existing knowledge fully met job requirements.Overall,64.1％considered their current work-load large or very large;49.3％were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with current compensation;2.8％reported that patients were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their work.Those reporting no or very little professional accomplishment in mental health work accounted for 4.4％;those reporting no or very little work pressure accounted for 4.1％.A large majority(88.7％)were willing to continue working in mental health.Conclusion Problems in Panzhihua City's mental health work-force include an imbalanced talent structure,an imbalanced post distribution,and relatively poor workforce stability.It is rec-ommended to recruit mental health professionals,strengthen personnel security mechanisms,support primary-level medical in-stitutions,and provide sufficiently practical training programs to promote the development of mental health services in Panzhi-hua.