Mindfulness-Based Teaching Competency Assessment: Comparing Self-Assessment With Expert Evaluation in the Veterans...

Area of Science:

• Integrative and Complementary Health
• Clinical Psychology
• Healthcare Professional Training

Background:

• Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBI) are integral to the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare.
• Training VA clinicians in MBI requires robust methods for assessing fidelity and competency.
• Effective MBI dissemination hinges on reliable clinician assessment tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the utility of the Mindfulness-Based Intervention: Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI:TAC) for clinician self-assessment in a national MBI training program.
• To compare clinician self-evaluations with expert assessments using the MBI:TAC.
• To explore inter-rater reliability between expert evaluators.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 39 VA clinicians participated in the study.
• Clinician self-evaluations were compared against scores from two expert evaluators observing a 10-minute exercise.
• Inter-rater reliability was assessed for two MBI:TAC domains: Guiding Practice and Embodiment of Mindfulness.

Main Results:

• Significant inter-rater reliability was found for Guiding Practice (ρ = .83, P = .003) but not for Embodiment of Mindfulness (ρ = .34, P = .186).
• Clinician self-assessment scores were significantly higher than expert scores, indicating a lack of correlation.
• The MBI:TAC may not yield accurate self-assessment scores without expert guidance.

Conclusions:

• The MBI:TAC is valuable for MBI teacher training but may be unreliable for self-assessment.
• Accurate MBI facilitator competency scoring necessitates instruction from senior teachers.
• Improving inter-rater reliability requires refined domain definitions and enhanced evaluator training for MBI programs.