Coordinated Specialty Care Workforce Development in the U.S.
Poster C100, Wednesday, October%2010, 11:30%20am%20-%201:00%20pm, Essex%20Ballroom
Jessica Pollard1, Michael Hoge1,2; 1Yale University, 2The Annapolis Coalition on the Behavioral Health Workforce
As the number of Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) programs for first episode psychosis continues to expand in the United States, workforce challenges related to operating these programs have emerged. The existing US behavioral health workforce does not typically have relevant training and experience. Determining how to recruit, select, and retain individuals most qualified to provide CSC; establishing competencies; and developing best practices for orientation, training, continued professional development, and supervision of CSC staff are important tasks in scaling up the workforce. The aim of this project was to establish workforce best practices in CSC programs and recommendations for workforce development. We selected individuals with substantial knowledge about developing and managing CSC services from organizations reflecting the broad range of healthcare settings within the U.S. Respondents were interviewed by an experienced clinical director of a CSC program using a semi-structured protocol. They were asked to identify workforce challenges in CSC, their typical practices, and recommendations regarding: worker competencies, recruitment, selection, orientation, continuing professional development, supervision, retention, inclusion of trainees, and relevant workforce related resources. Prominent themes were identified and summarized, a draft was circulated to respondents for review and comments, which informed the final report. Respondents identified aspects of CSC that are distinct from usual care, 25 core competencies, ways in which existing educational programs do not prepare workers for providing CSC, and techniques for orienting to CSC, establishing competency, ongoing supervision, and professional development. Findings, recommendations, and implications for CSC workforce development in the US will be presented.
Topic Area: Service System Development and Reform