Expanding the Behavioral Health Workforce through Multi-Cultural Clinical Practice: Outcomes from an Integrated Behavioral Health Student Training

Background and Purpose: In 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law and authorized provisions for the way in which health care was implemented in the United States. This law led to a heightened focus on the need for integrated health care and the necessary training of behavioral health professionals in graduate programs who were equipped with the knowledge and skills to serve effectively as part of an integrated care team. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the application and results of an integrated behavioral health care training series taught from an intersectional perspective and designed to prepare Master’s level students with work and experiences in delivering integrated behavioral health care services.

Methods: In order to assess the effectiveness of the training series, the self-report Student Integrated Health Competency Efficacy Scale (SIHCES) was used to measure students’ (N=30) integrated health competencies at three timepoints over the course of the academic year (beginning of the academic year, mid-year, and end of the year). The nine SIHCES questions measure the following domains of integrated health competencies: Interpersonal Communication, Collaboration and Teamwork, Screening and Assessment, Care Planning and Care Coordination, Intervention, Cultural Competence and Adaptation, Systems Oriented Practice, Practice-Based Learning and Quality Improvement, and Informatics. We calculated the average SIHCES score at each timepoint. We also examined the percentage of students whose SIHCES scores increased over the year. Finally, we calculated the percent of students who agreed or strongly agreed with each of the nine questions at each timepoint.

Results: The average SIHCES scores increased steadily over time. The average score at Time 1 was 3.57 (SD=0.39), the average score at Time 2 was 4.06 (SD=.32), and the average score at Time 3 was 4.37 (SD=.31). Our benchmark was for a minimum of 80% of students to demonstrate an increase in their SIHCES scores over the year. This benchmark was exceeded, with 89% of students demonstrating an increase in their SIHCES scores from the first time point to the final time point. Finally, there was an increase over time for all questions with regard to the percent of students who agreed or strongly agreed with each question. At Time 1, between 36% and 89% of students indicated that they agreed or strongly agreed with each question. At Time 3 this increased to between 82% and 100% of students.

Conclusions and Implications: Students demonstrated an increase in their SIHCES scores over the course of the academic year, indicating positive benefits of the integrated behavioral health training and preparation program. The social work profession, as a whole, is uniquely positioned to lead integrated behavioral health teams in responding to patients’ complex needs and serving them wholly—mind, body, and spirit, through a collaborative team. The continued preparation of future behavioral health professionals through effective trainings will continue to be meaningful and beneficial to the development and implementation of integrated behavioral health collaborative teams.