Research from Design for Care has shed light on the immense toll of mental ill health in the NSW Health and Social Assistance (HSA) industry, resulting in a staggering loss of over 170,000 working weeks from 2012 to 2021. Based on a comprehensive survey of 1300 workers, mainly in aged and disability care, the report, How Work Design Shapes Mental Health in the Healthcare and Social Assistance Industry, discovered that about one in five workers say they feel burnt out.  

But there is great variation between workplaces, with good work design a key to staff mental wellbeing. Just one in ten workers report feeling burnt out when work is well designed. But if work design is poor, up to half of workers can admit to burn out.