RT journal article
T1 Impact of the workforce allocation on the technical performance of mental health services: the collective case of Helsinki-Uusimaa (Finland)
A1 Diaz-Milanes, Diego
A1 Almeda, Nerea
A1 Gutiérrez-Colosia, Mencía R.
A1 García Alonso, Carlos
A1 Sadeniemi, Minna
A1 Salvador Carulla, Luis
A2 Neurociencias
K1 Decision support system
K1 Finland
K1 Mental healthcare
K1 Relative technical efficiency
K1 Services management
K1 Workforce
AB Background: Long-term mental health (MH) policies in Finland aimed at investing in community care and promoting reforms have led to a reduction in the number of psychiatric hospital beds. However, most resources are still allocated to hospital and community residential services due to various social, economic and political factors. Despite previous research focussing on the number and cost of these services, no study has evaluated the emerging patterns of use, their technical performance and the relationship with the workforce structure. Objective: The purpose of this study was to observe the patterns of use and their technical performance (efficiency) of the main types of care of MH services in the Helsinki-Uusimaa region (Finland), and to analyse the potential relationship between technical performance and the corresponding workforce structure. Methods: The sample included acute hospital residential care, non-hospital residential care and outpatient care services. The analysis was conducted using regression analysis, Monte Carlo simulation, fuzzy inference and data envelopment analysis. Results: The analysis showed a statistically significant linear relationship between the number of service users and the length of stay, number of beds in non-hospital residential care and number of contacts in outpatient care services. The three service types displayed a similar pattern of technical performance, with high relative technical efficiency on average and a low probability of being efficient. The most efficient acute hospital and outpatient care services integrated multidisciplinary teams, while psychiatrists and nurses characterized non-hospital residential care. Conclusions: The results indicated that the number of resources and utilization variables were linearly related to the number of users and that the relative technical efficiency of the services was similar across all types. This suggests homogenous MH management with small variations based on workforce allocation. Therefore, the distribution of workforce capacity should be considered in the development of effective policies and interventions in the southern Finnish MH system.
PB BioMed Central Ltd
SN 1478-4505
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/32320
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/32320
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 10-may-2026