Workplace Well-Being Instrument

The Augusta+ Scale

A short, psychometrically-tested instrument for measuring workplace well-being across occupational groups — grounded in the US Surgeon General’s Framework and designed to produce both a total score and a per-domain profile in about five minutes.

Take the assessment → See the framework
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Sample score ·
Moderate–High workplace well-being
LOWMODERATEHIGH
What it is

Well-being that isn’t one-size-fits-all

Workplace well-being looks different for a nurse on a night shift than it does for a researcher at a desk. The Augusta+ Scale was built to capture those differences.

Items are organized by the five domains of the US Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being. Every respondent gets a total score and a domain-specific profile — so a single number never obscures where the strain actually lives.

The scale was tested for psychometric properties (reliability, factor structure, and construct validity) in a series of studies. It’s brief, framework-grounded, and profession-aware — designed to be usable by individuals, teams, or in population-level surveillance.

Interested in using it in your research or organization? Get in touch →

How it works

From items to interpretation

Step 1

Pick your profession

Thresholds vary across occupational groups. Selecting your role calibrates how your score will be interpreted.
Step 2

Rate each item honestly

Respond on a 5-point Likert scale (Strongly Disagree → Strongly Agree). The whole thing takes about five minutes.
Step 3

Get your score & category

Items are summed, broken out by the five framework domains, and compared against your profession-specific thresholds. You’ll see whether you fall in the Low, Moderate, or High workplace well-being band, plus a per-domain profile.
Step 4

Reflect & act

Results are private — nothing is stored on any server. Use the reflection prompts to decide what to do next.
Start the assessment →
The Foundation

Built on the US Surgeon General’s Framework

In October 2022, the US Surgeon General released the Framework for Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being — a five-essentials model organized around Worker Voice and Equity. The Augusta+ Scale operationalizes these five domains into a brief, measurable instrument.

US Surgeon General's Framework for Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being — five essentials (Protection from Harm, Connection & Community, Work-Life Harmony, Mattering at Work, Opportunity for Growth) organized around Worker Voice and Equity.
Figure. Framework for Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being. Source: Office of the US Surgeon General, US Department of Health and Human Services (2022). The US Surgeon General’s Framework for Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being. Washington, DC: HHS. Available at hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/workplace-well-being. Reproduced here as a US Government work in the public domain (17 U.S.C. §105), with attribution. The Augusta+ Scale is an independent instrument developed to measure the five domains of this framework and is not affiliated with or endorsed by HHS or the Office of the Surgeon General.
Highlights

What makes the Augusta+ Scale different

~5 min

Brief by design

Short enough to include in busy workflows or larger surveys without dropping response quality.

Multi-domain

Multiple facets, one score

Five domains from the Surgeon General’s framework — each scored separately — so a single number reflects the whole picture, not just burnout.

Profession-aware

Contextual thresholds

Interpretation bands are calibrated to occupational groups — a physician’s “moderate” isn’t the same as a general worker’s.

Validated

Psychometrically tested

Backed by reliability, factor structure, and validity analyses from our foundational study.

Cite the Scale

Foundational paper & further work

If you use the Augusta+ Scale — or want to read the psychometric evidence behind it — please cite the foundational paper first, and any of the follow-up work as appropriate.

★ Foundational paper

MacKinnon, N. J., Ambade, P. N., Hoffman, Z. T., Mehra, K., Ange, B., Ruffa, A., Kornegay, D., & Odo, N. (2024). Development of a New Instrument to Measure Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being. Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes, 8(6), 507–516. doi:10.1016/j.mayocpiqo.2024.09.002

Read the paper → View on Google Scholar ↗

Follow-up work using the scale

Ambade, P. N., Hoffman, Z., Yi, M., & MacKinnon, N. J. (2025). A national survey of health professional student preceptors’ workplace mental health and well-being. Electronic Journal of General Medicine, 22(5), em682. view article ↗

MacKinnon, N. J., & Ambade, P. N. (2025). National Academies of Practice’s member survey on workplace mental health and well-being. Journal of Interprofessional Education & Practice. view article ↗

Frequently asked

Questions people ask

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Is my response stored?

No. The assessment runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, saved, or shared.

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Is this a clinical diagnosis?

No. The Augusta+ Scale is a research instrument for workplace well-being, not a diagnostic tool. It’s not a substitute for professional help.

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Can I use it in my study?

Please get in touch. I’m happy to share the validated items, scoring rules, and profession thresholds for academic use.

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Does it work on phones?

Yes — the assessment is fully responsive and works on any modern browser.