The disillusionment of mental health network coordinators: A new occupation under pressure

Coordination; emotional labor; health policy; intermediate actors; policy implementation; Business and International Management; Sociology and Political Science; Public Administration; Strategy and Management

Abstract :

[en] Following the launch of the Psy107 reform in the Belgian mental health sector in 2010, the ‘network coordinators’ appeared as a new occupation responsible for facilitating its implementation locally. Although they demonstrate strong professional commitment, driven by a desire to make change happen, a sense of unease quickly develops among them. Using qualitative methods, we delve into the coordinators’ experience to examine the emotional dimension of their work. The results show that coordinators face three main tensions in their work: they must reconcile conflicting expectations, manage without authority and align resources and objectives. As a result, coordinators deploy coping strategies that require emotional intelligence and emotional labor to compensate for systemic ambiguities rather than improve mental healthcare. As they struggle to reconcile their professional commitment to stimulate change in the sector with the limited transformative power they actually hold, this situation gradually leads them to experience a form of alienation. Drawing on Graeber’s concept of “bullshit jobs,” we argue that coordinators’ emotions and personal commitment are mobilized to compensate for dysfunctions produced by the policy’s governance arrangement, while their emotional labor ultimately serves to generate visible signs of change rather than address structural issues.

Disciplines :

Sociology & social sciences

Author, co-author :

Darcis, Coralie ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences sociales > Sociologie des processus de gouvernance et de digitalisation des organisations et des marchés ; Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

Wyngaerden, François ; Health and Society Research Institute, Catholic University of Louvain, Wolluwé-Saint-Lambert, Belgium

Schoenaers, Frédéric ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences sociales > Sociologie des ressources humaines et des systèmes institutionnels

Thunus, Sophie ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences sociales > Sociologie des ressources humaines et des systèmes institutionnels ; Health and Society Research Institute, Catholic University of Louvain, Wolluwé-Saint-Lambert, Belgium

Language :

English

Title :

The disillusionment of mental health network coordinators: A new occupation under pressure

Publication date :

11 August 2026

Journal title :

Administrative Theory and Praxis

ISSN :

1084-1806

eISSN :

1949-0461

Publisher :

Routledge

Pages :

1-22

Peer reviewed :

Peer reviewed

Additional URL :

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10841806.2026.2697118

Available on ORBi :

since 01 September 2026

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