Assertive outreach teams in London: staff experiences and perceptions. Pan-London Assertive Outreach Study, part 2.

BACKGROUND: The job satisfaction, burn-out and work experiences of assertive outreach team staff are likely to be important to the model's sustainability.

AIMS: To describe self-reported views and work experiences of staff in London's 24 assertive outreach teams and to compare these with staff in community mental health teams (CMHTs) and between different types of assertive outreach team.

METHOD: Confidential staff questionnaires in London's assertive outreach teams (n=187, response rate=89%) and nine randomly selected CMHTs (n=114, response rate=75%).

RESULTS: Staff in assertive outreach teams and CMHTs were moderately satisfied with their jobs, with similar sources of satisfaction and stress. Mean scores were low or average for all sub-scales of the Maslach Burnout Inventory for the assertive outreach team and the CMHT staff, with some differences suggesting less burn-out in the assertive outreach teams. Nine of the 24 assertive outreach teams had team means in the high range for emotional exhaustion and there were significant differences between types of assertive outreach team in some components of burn-out and satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings are encouraging, but repeated investigation is needed when assertive outreach teams have been established for longer.