Factors impacting on retention amongst community mental health clinicians working in rural Australia: a literature review

Australia's rural communities rely heavily on public-sector provided community mental health services and these services face major recruitment and retention challenges, with many long term unfilled positions and high staff turnover. This paper aims, by undertaking a comprehensive literature review of Australian peer-reviewed studies, to identify the impacting factors on retention among community mental health clinicians working in rural Australia. Thirteen studies were found and thematic analysis identified three key main categories (1) the nature of the work; (2) the multidisciplinary team; and (3) the attractors and detractors of working rurally. This literature identifies that community mental health workers have demanding and stressful roles and carry heavy workloads. Clinicians working in rural positions experience additional challenges arising from extra work demands and workplace stresses. The impacts of the interdisciplinary generic casework approach and rurality within community mental health have not yet been well investigated. The studies exploring impacting factors on retention have, so far, mostly focused on work and professional considerations with less research conducted exploring personal and community factors. Future retention focused studies are needed that are multidisciplinary, rural focused and take a multifactor approach.