|
Mental Illness Research,
Education & Clinical Center (MIRECC)
VA Desert Pacific Healthcare Network
|
Products & Tools
Core
Competencies for Severe, Persistent Mental Illness
Competency Assessment Instrument
Key to the Competency Assessment Instrument
Medical Informatics Network Tool (MINT)
Patient Assessment System (PAS)
MIRECC Global Assessment of Functioning Scale
-
- If people with severe, persistent mental illness are
to receive high quality care, they must receive treatment
from competent clinicians. Competencies are the
values, knowledge and skills that clinicians need to
possess to provide appropriate care. The core clinical
competencies that are required to treat people with
severe, persistent mental illness have been defined.
A set of these competencies was published in the article
Identifying
clinical competencies that support rehabilitation and
empowerment in individuals with severe mental illness.,
Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research,
2000; 27(3): 321-333..
Top
-
An Instrument to Assess Competencies of Providers Treating
Severe Mental Illness
- Serious mental illnesses (SMI) such as schizophrenia
are expensive and challenging to treat. One approach
to enhance the quality of care is to improve provider
competencies. Provider competencies include the critical
attitudes, knowledge, and skills providers need to deliver
high quality care. The measurement of provider competencies
can be useful in hiring and quality improvement efforts.
Background and History
Given the potential utility of a competency instrument,
researchers at the VISN 22 MIRECC at the West Los
Angeles VA, Value Options Healthcare, RAND, and Comprehensive
Neuroscience Inc created such an instrument through
a project funded by the Center for Health Care Strategies,
a subsidiary of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
First, the instrument, called the Competency Assessment
Instrument (CAI), was developed using a list of competencies
for providers of clients with SMI assembled by Alex
Young and collaborators (Young et al., 2000). The
set of competencies was assembled by reviewing existing
literature and competency statements, and conducting
focus groups, interviews, and an expert panel with
representatives of clients, family members, clinicians,
managers, policy-makers and experts. The set of 37
competencies identified are important in determining
outcomes, emphasize such concepts as rehabilitation,
self-help, client empowerment, and recovery, and have
often been found to be lacking in current clinicians.
Then the instrument was evaluated using providers
who deliver services to SMI clients at several clinics
within five publicly financed treatment organizations
under a behavioral managed care company in two western
states (Chinman et al., In press).
For more information about the CAI development and
evaluation or the list of competencies, see the references
below. Click here to obtain a copy of the CAI.
-
-
The CAI measures 15 provider competencies developed
by Young et al (2000) that were viewed as central
to recovery-oriented care. Each competency is measured
with its own scale, which is made of a combination
of three to five Likert items requesting a numerical
response on a four or five-point scale. Demographic
questions assessing race/ethnicity, gender, education
level, job title, job duties, and number of years
in mental health are also included.
Competency Assessment Instrument CAI Scales &
Items - contains the 15 competency scales, the
items that comprise them, and the corresponding item
number on the CAI. Using the baseline and two-week
data from the project, Chinman et al. (In press) conducted
psychometric analyses on the 15 CAI scales and found
that most scales are reliable and valid.
How to Calculate the CAI Scales - provides scale-by-scale
instructions on how to calculate the CAI scale scores,
including which items need to be reverse coded.
Additional Non-Scale Items on the CAI - a set
of items that were included in the final CAI but that
were not part of any of the 15 scales.
For further information about the CAI, contact Matthew
Chinman, PhD, at 310-268-3647 or chinman@rand.org.
If you use the CAI, please send us an email with your
experiences and any suggestions.
References
- Chinman MJ, Young, AS, Rowe M, Forquer S, Knight
E, Miller A. (In press). An instrument to assess
competencies of providers treating severe mental
illness. Mental
Health Services Research.
- Grusky O, Tierney, K, Spanish MT. Which community
mental health services are most important? Administration
& Policy in Mental Health. 1989; 17: 3-16.
- Young, A. S., Forquer, S. L., Tran, A., Starzynski,
M., & Shatkin, J. (2000). Identifying clinical competencies
that support rehabilitation and empowerment in individuals
with severe mental illness. Journal
of Behavioral Health Services Research, 27(3),
321-333.
Each of these projects was supported,
in part, through grants from The Center for Health
Care Strategies, which is made possible through a
separate grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The CAI is part of a project evaluating
an intervention designed to improve the competency
of clinicians and increase use of peer support. This
intervention, called Staff Supporting Skills for Self-Help
(“SSSSH”), was developed and led by Edward Knight
and Howie Vogel. Results from this project are forthcoming.
Each of these projects was supported,
in part, through grants from The Center for Health
Care Strategies, which is made possible through a
separate grant by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The CAI is part of a project evaluating
an intervention designed to improve the competency
of clinicians and increase use of peer support. This
intervention, called Staff Supporting Skills for Self-Help
(“SSSSH”), was developed and led by Edward Knight
and Howie Vogel. Results from this project are forthcoming.
-
Top
http://www.npistat.com/mint-tour
- Take a tour of the MINT system
MINT works in conjunction with the VA patient record
system to provide three areas of support:
- Provides clinical information to the health-care
provider at the point of patient contact.
- Facilitates communication and encourages teamwork
among members of a health care team
- Provdes rapid access to reports and graphical
displays for quality of care assessment
For more information about the MINT system, contact
Jim Mintz at info@mirecc.org
-
Top
Patient Assessment System (PAS)
Demonstration
Slide
- An online system for evaluating mood, medication changes
and functional status.
For information about the PAS, contact Dr.
Alex Young at
ayoung@ucla.edu.
Top
Disclaimer:
This web site, is offered as a public service and is not intended to substitute for professional medical care.
|
|
| Reviewed/Updated Date:
February 12, 2007ndDate -->
|
|
