ArticleBMC public health2025
Barriers and facilitators to seeking psychological support among healthcare professionals: a qualitative study using the Theoretical Domains Framework.
Article in BMC public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed.
- Adoption of App-Based Peer Support by Canadian Health Care Providers: Mixed Methods Organizational Implementation Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2026Article
- Barriers to and racial and ethnic differences in mental health care service utilization among staff in a large urban health care system.Psychological services · 2026Article
- Bouncing back from stress: objective markers of expressive flexibility and resilience in emergency healthcare workers using computer vision.NPP - digital psychiatry and neuroscience · 2026Article
- Mental health experiences and help-seeking behaviors among Chinese psychiatric nurses: a descriptive qualitative study.BMC nursing · 2026Article
- College students' experiences, perceptions and management of health risks: a qualitative study in China.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Risk perception and influenza vaccine hesitancy among university students in Saudi Arabia.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Article
- Mental Health Literacy and Associated Factors in Ethnic Minority Border Regions of Guangxi, China: A Cross-Sectional Study.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2026Article
- A feasibility study using the RE-AIM framework: healthcare providers' and community partners' perceptions of a psychosocial intervention for Latino patient-caregiver dyads coping with advanced cancer.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Severity profiles of depression, anxiety, and stress among non-commissioned officers in the Ghana armed forces: a cross-sectional study at Burma camp.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Cohort profile: the nurses' mental health study.BMC nursing · 2025Article
- The Role of Stress, Social Norms and Attitudes in Help-Seeking for Nurses.Journal of nursing management · 2025Review
- Multilevel factors affecting mental health literacy among older adults: a qualitative study based on social ecological model.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Multisensory nature-based Recharge Rooms' effect on healthcare workers in a multicenter study.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDespite facing significant mental health risks, healthcare professionals often demonstrate a low frequency of seeking psychological support. This study aimed to explore the factors influencing healthcare professionals' psychological help-seeking behaviours in order to enhance the mental health of this critical population.
methodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with registered clinical doctors, nurses, and hospital managers aged 21-55 years, recruited from comprehensive public hospitals in China. Participants were selected through purposive and snowball sampling to ensure diversity in roles, specialities, and work experiences. The interview guide was developed using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to explore the reasons for seeking psychological support. Data were analyzed using framework analysis and relevant domains were identified according to the frequency of participants' belief statements. The facilitators and barriers in each domain were summarized using the coded reference points.
resultsA total of 34 participants were interviewed (12 nurses, 8 physicians, 14 hospital managers). We identified seven relevant domains in influencing the behaviour of seeking psychological support: knowledge, beliefs about capabilities, environmental context and resources, social/professional role and identity, emotion, social influences, and behavioural regulation. The most common facilitators of psychological help-seeking include accessible resources, positive interpersonal relationships, increased awareness, effective behavioural strategies, and emotional acknowledgement, while barriers include privacy concerns, stigma, time constraints, doubts about the effectiveness of psychological services, limited knowledge, and perceived professional role conflicts.
conclusionThe behaviour of healthcare professionals seeking psychological support is complex and influenced by the interaction of multiple factors. The findings highlight the need for targeted interventions that enhance mental health literacy, address stigma, provide accessible psychological support resources, and cultivate a supportive organisational culture to improve their well-being.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.