Organisational aspects and determinants on intention to seek psychotherapeutic consultation at work

BACKGROUND: Worldwide, a minority of people suffering from mental illness receives adequate treatment. Psychotherapeutic consultation at work (PT-A) offers low-threshold and short-term access to psychotherapeutic care for employees with mental burden. However, utilisation has been low so far. Therefore, this study aimed to identify employees’ preferences on organisational aspects and determinants on intention to seek PT-A. METHODS: In total, 755 employees answered online questions on organisational aspects of PT-A (type, time, location, scope and purpose) and on determinants (sociodemographic variables, psychological well-being, stigma-related barriers and psychosocial safety climate) of intention to seek PT-A. To identify organisational preferences, various repeated measures analyses of variances were conducted. Multiple linear regressions were used to identify determinants of intention to seek PT-A. RESULTS: Results showed that employees prefer in-person consultations that take place outside of working hours and outside company premises, with treatment sessions included in addition to diagnostics. Intention to seek PT-A for occupational reasons was higher than for private reasons. The study also found that male gender, higher psychological well-being and higher perceived stigma-related barriers were associated with a lower intention to seek PT-A. However, these associations were found to depend on whether participants currently showed symptoms of depression. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide practical indications under which conditions employees would make use of PT-A. Furthermore, recommendations that might increase utilisation can be derived from these results (e.g. anti-stigma campaigns). Nevertheless, longitudinal studies are necessary to confirm whether these factors determine actual utilisation. KEY MESSAGES: • Results suggest that employees prefer PT-A as in-person consultation during working hours and off company premises. • Interventions like anti-stigma campaigns or target group specific advertising might address the determinants on intention to seek PT-A found in this study.