Interprofessional Education and Training of MSW Students: A Key Aspect of Behavioral Health Care

Background/Purpose: Primary care providers are often the first point of access for behavioral health needs; however, the U.S. has a shortage of professionals, especially individuals trained to work with youth and adolescents. Expanding the workforce to include professionals, like social workers, to fill the gap is important in addressing client needs. Interprofessional education (IPE) trains students to understand different professional practice frameworks to more effectively collaborate with colleagues to best serve clients. MSW students must understand how other professions address behavioral health issues to best identify solutions. However, many professional degree programs do not allow the opportunity to be trained among multiple professions. Therefore, an IPE program was developed to address this gap to train MSW students to meet the biopsychosocial needs of youth at risk for behavioral health challenges. The study’s purpose was to examine whether MSW students had increased readiness and competencies for collaboration after a year-long interprofessional behavioral health workforce development program.

Methods: This study examines results from pre- and post-surveys among second-year MSW students participating in a year-long IPE program designed for addressing behavioral health needs among children, youth, and adolescents (N = 20). Quantitative data was gathered at the program’s baseline and end of the academic year to assess attitudes, skills, experiences, and behavioral health competencies. Three externally validated instruments with a 5-point Likert scale were administered: the 14-item Attitudes Toward Health Care Teams Scale; the 17-item Team Skills Scale; and 15 items about experiences in behavioral health practice extracted from the Inventory of Behavioral Health Competencies Survey. The 20-item Interprofessional Collaborative Competencies Attainment Survey (ICACAS), which measures self-reported competencies for communication, patient-family centered approach, conflict resolution, and team functioning, was also administered.

Results: Twenty students were surveyed at the beginning and end of the year-long program via a pre- and post-test design. Students in the program were 23 to 49 years old, mostly female, and white/non-Hispanic. Paired t-tests indicated the following: the Team Skill Scales showed an overall significant increase in abilities [t(19)=1.79, p<.044]; Attitudes Toward Health Care Teams Scale showed a significant decrease in positive attitudes toward interprofessional healthcare [t(19)= -4.69, p=<.001)]; the experience scale showed an overall significant increase in behavioral health practice experiences [t(19)=2.96, p=.004]; and ICCAS had an overall significant increase across all competencies [t(19)=9.63, p<.001].

Conclusions and Implications: IPE is important for training and developing practice skills among MSW students working with diverse communities with unique needs, such youth and adolescents. The program’s results indicated that MSW students have increased readiness and competence in their skills and experiences related to team-based care when exposed to interprofessional education. However, the students also report decreased attitudes to interprofessional healthcare. This finding requires additional research but may be from students having minimal exposure to interprofessional practice pre-program and their overall experiences during trainings and field placement were different than anticipated. Overall, education of MSW students and those in related professions is essential to expand understanding of how to effectively practice as an interprofessional team member and address at-risk youth’s needs.