ABSTRACT
Competency-based training approaches are being used more in healthcare to guide curriculum content and ensure accountability and outcomes in the educational process. This article provides an overview of the state of competency development in the field of behavioral health. Specifically, it identifies the groups and organizations that have conducted and supported this work, summarizes their progress in defining and assessing competencies, and discusses both the obstacles and future directions for such initiatives. A major purpose of this article is to provide a compendium of current competency efforts so that these might inform and enhance ongoing competency development in the varied behavioral health disciplines and specialties. These varied resources may also be useful in identifying the core competencies that are common to the multiple disciplines and specialties.
Subject(s)
Behavioral Medicine/education , Clinical Competence , Mental Health Services/standards , Behavioral Medicine/standards , Competency-Based Education , Employee Performance Appraisal , Family Therapy/standards , Humans , Mental Disorders/rehabilitation , Mental Disorders/therapy , Patient Care Team/standards , Psychiatric Nursing/education , Psychiatric Nursing/standards , Psychiatry/education , Psychiatry/standards , Psychology, Clinical/education , Psychology, Clinical/standards , Social Work, Psychiatric/education , Social Work, Psychiatric/standards , Staff Development/methods , Substance-Related Disorders/rehabilitation , Substance-Related Disorders/therapy , United States , WorkforceABSTRACT
In May 2004, the Annapolis Coalition on Behavioral Health Workforce Education convened a national meeting on the identification and assessment of competencies. The Conference on Behavioral Health Workforce Competencies brought leading consumer and family advocates together with other experts on competencies from diverse disciplines and specialties in the fields of both mental health care and substance use disorders treatment. Aided by experts on competency development in business and medicine, conference participants have generated 10 consensus recommendations to guide the future development of workforce competencies in behavioral health. This article outlines those recommendations. A collaborative effort to identify a set of core or common competencies is envisioned as a key strategy for advancing behavioral health education, training, and other workforce development initiatives.
