Professionals ready to integrate care (PRI-Care): A mental health training collaborative

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Education
• Interprofessional Collaboration
• Mental and Behavioral Health Training

Background:

• Integrated care models require collaboration between mental and behavioral health professionals.
• Existing training programs may not adequately prepare professionals for interprofessional teamwork.
• The PRI-Care program was developed to address this need for social work and counseling trainees.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of the PRI-Care interprofessional training program.
• To assess changes in interprofessional valuing and socialization, team skills, and professional development.
• To explore the interrelationships between these three key areas.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional survey-based pre-post design was employed.
• Data were collected from four cohorts of students participating in the training program between 2018 and 2021.
• A total of 111 students completed the surveys.

Main Results:

• Significant increases were observed in interprofessional valuing and socialization, team skills, and professional development from pre- to post-training.
• Older trainees reported higher self-perceptions of interprofessional valuing and socialization.
• Higher levels of interprofessional valuing post-training were associated with enhanced self-perceived professional development.

Conclusions:

• The PRI-Care interprofessional training program positively impacted trainees' skills and professional development.
• The findings support the benefit of specialized interprofessional training for students entering mental and behavioral health fields.
• This training is crucial for enhancing integrated care delivery.