Unmet Mental Health Needs Among California Workers Since the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: We sought to identify worker groups with high prevalence of unmet mental health needs to inform employer benefits programs and outreach to increase access to care.

Methods: We conducted a repeated cross-sectional study to understand unmet mental health needs among workers since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic using the California Health Interview Survey data from 2013 to 2021.

Results: In 2021, 23.4% (confidence interval: 22.4 to 24.4) reported unmet mental health needs, an absolute increase of 3.9% from 2019. Relative increases were highest among workers in the information industries (prevalence ratio: 1.89, confidence interval: 1.4 to 2.5) and older workers (prevalence ratio: 1.27, CI: 0.9 to 1.8). Increases in needing help were not met with comparable increases in seeking care.

Conclusions: Unmet mental health needs increased for California workers during the pandemic. Employers should dedicate resources and implement strategies to increase access to care and promote worker well-being.