Care Managers in the Aging Network: Increasing Self-Efficacy in Human Service Providers

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Mental Health Services Research

Background:

• Behavioral health concerns affect one in four older adults, with over 63% not receiving adequate services.
• Care managers are vital in the aging network for community-based services but often lack specialized training for older adults' behavioral health needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a training program on care managers' self-efficacy in working with older adults experiencing behavioral health issues.
• To assess the impact of training on care managers' confidence in addressing mental health and substance use problems in older populations.

Main Methods:

• A quasi-experimental design with a pre- and post-test approach was employed.
• Convenience sampling included 90 care managers.
• Self-efficacy scores were measured before and after the training intervention.

Main Results:

• A significant increase in mean self-efficacy scores was observed post-training for working with clients with mental health problems (M=65.88) compared to pre-training (M=62.31).
• Similarly, significant improvement was found in self-efficacy for working with clients with substance use problems (post-test M=65.60 vs. pre-test M=59.81).

Conclusions:

• The training intervention effectively enhanced care managers' perceived self-efficacy in addressing both mental health and substance use concerns in older adults.
• This training is a promising strategy to equip care managers with the necessary skills to better serve the behavioral health needs of the aging population.