Implementing a Web-Based Intervention to Train Community Clinicians in an Evidence-Based Psychotherapy: A Pilot Study

Area of Science:

• Mental Health Services Research
• Psychotherapy Implementation Science
• Digital Health Interventions

Background:

• Community mental health systems face challenges in implementing evidence-based psychosocial treatments.
• Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy (IPSRT) is an effective psychotherapy for bipolar disorder.
• Traditional in-person training may not be scalable or accessible for widespread adoption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of online training and a learning collaborative for implementing IPSRT.
• To compare the effectiveness of online versus in-person training on clinician adoption of IPSRT techniques.
• To evaluate the impact of training modality on patient-reported outcomes related to IPSRT.

Main Methods:

• A randomized feasibility study comparing in-person training with online training plus a learning collaborative.
• Participants included 36 clinicians interested in IPSRT.
• 136 patients reported monthly on clinician use of 19 specific IPSRT techniques post-training.

Main Results:

• Clinicians in both the online and in-person training groups demonstrated increased use of IPSRT techniques.
• Patient-reported outcomes indicated comparable levels of IPSRT technique utilization regardless of training modality.
• Internet-supported e-learning was feasible for community clinicians.

Conclusions:

• Online training combined with a learning collaborative is a feasible method for disseminating evidence-based psychotherapies like IPSRT.
• This digital approach can achieve comparable implementation outcomes to traditional face-to-face training.
• Internet-supported e-learning offers a scalable solution for enhancing clinical practice in community mental health settings.