Continuing education to go: capacity building in psychotherapies for front-line mental health workers in underserviced communities.

OBJECTIVE To address the gaps between need and access, and between treatment guidelines and their implementation for mental illness, through capacity building of front-line health workers. METHODS Following a learning needs assessment, work-based continuing education courses in evidence-supported psychotherapies were developed for front-line workers in underserviced community settings. The 5-hour courses on the fundamentals of cognitive-behavioural therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, motivational interviewing, and dialectical behaviour therapy each included videotaped captioned simulations, interactive lesson plans, and clinical practice behaviour reminders. Two courses, sequentially offered in 7 underserviced settings, were subjected to a mixed methods evaluation. Ninety-three nonmedical front-line workers enrolled in the program. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to assess pre- and postintervention changes in knowledge and self-efficacy. Qualitative data from 5 semistructured focus groups with 25 participants were also analyzed. RESULTS Significant pre- and postintervention changes in knowledge (P < 0.001) were found in course completers. Counselling self-efficacy improved in participants who took the first course offered (P = 0.001). Dropouts were much less frequent in peer-led, small-group learning than in a self-directed format. Qualitative analysis revealed improved confidence, morale, self-reported practice behaviour changes, and increased comfort in working with difficult clients. CONCLUSION This work-based, multimodal, interactive, interprofessional curriculum for knowledge translation of psychotherapeutic techniques is feasible and helpful. A peer-led group format is preferred over self-directed learning. Its application can build capacity of front-line health workers in helping patients who suffer from common mental disorders.