What is it about?
This study explores how Sukabumi City can strengthen its mental health workforce. It identifies workload, competency, coordination, and digital monitoring gaps and proposes task forces, certified training, and better use of SIMKESWA to improve services.
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Why is it important?
Mental health services depend not only on policies and facilities but also on having capable and well-supported people to deliver them. In Sukabumi City, mental health services for people with severe mental disorders reached 95.9% in 2024, below Indonesia's required 100% Minimum Service Standard (SPM). Each of the city's 15 community health centers relies on a mental health program coordinator who is responsible for planning, service delivery, reporting, and coordination. The study shows that the main problem is not a lack of commitment. Mental health officers demonstrate strong initiative, supported by leadership and community networks. Instead, performance is constrained by structural problems, particularly dual-role workloads, limited specialized competencies, inadequate local SOPs, insufficient dedicated facilities, and fragmented coordination. Importantly, the study finds that 80% of officers manage multiple programs, creating workload pressures that can fragment attention and increase the risk of burnout. At the same time, Sukabumi has important opportunities, including government support, national competency standards (SKKNI), Mayor's Regulation No. 126/2025, cross-sector collaboration, and the SIMKESWA digital monitoring system. The SWOT analysis places Sukabumi in Quadrant I—Aggressive-Growth, meaning that its internal strengths and external opportunities provide a strong basis for improvement. The study therefore recommends moving away from fragmented, multi-tasking arrangements toward a specialized and competency-based workforce system supported by Community Mental Health Task Forces (TPKJM), certified training, and digital monitoring.
Perspectives
Mental health program officers. Officers need more than additional training. Their workloads and responsibilities also need to be redesigned so that they can concentrate on mental health services rather than simultaneously managing several unrelated programs. Greater role clarity and operational support could reduce burnout and improve service performance. Human resource development. HR development should shift from occasional training toward continuous competency development. The study recommends certified training based on Indonesia's National Competency Standards (SKKNI), complemented by digital mentoring and practical support. Local government and governance. Improving mental health services requires institutional change as well as individual competency. Formalizing Community Mental Health Task Forces (TPKJM) at the sub-district level could distribute responsibilities and strengthen collaboration among health services, social agencies, police, community volunteers, and other stakeholders. Digital transformation. SIMKESWA should function as more than an administrative reporting tool. Better use of the platform can support case monitoring, evidence-based reporting, coordination, and performance management. Digital competency should therefore become part of workforce development. Policy and management. The central policy lesson is that training alone cannot solve workforce performance problems. Competency development needs to be combined with job redesign, workload redistribution, clearer SOPs, stronger inter-agency coordination, appropriate facilities, and supportive regulation. Practical application. The proposed HRD roadmap can help the Sukabumi City Health Office move mental health program officers from being “lone managers” to strategic coordinators of a wider community mental health network. Ultimately, this could support more equitable services and help the city progress from 95.9% coverage toward the national 100% service target.
Professor Septiana Dwiputrianti
STIA LAN Bandung
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Human Resource Development Strategies For Mental Health Program Officers, Jurnal Ilmiah Bisnis dan Ekonomi Asia, July 2026, STMIK Asia Malang,
DOI: 10.32815/jibeka.v20i2.2480.
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