An Evaluation of co-Delivered Foundational BPD Training With Health Service Staff

Individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) are frequent users of mental health services and may be perceived negatively by mental health professionals. Educational training has been associated with improved attitudes towards individuals with this diagnosis, but few interventions have been delivered in collaboration with lived experience experts. This study evaluated an educational intervention for mental health professionals that was delivered with lived experience experts. The impact of the training on staff attitudes, namely personal competence, empathy and treatment optimism was examined. Professionals in South Australian public sector health and community-based services attended a 1-day training on Foundation Skills for working with individuals with BPD. Each session was co-delivered with a lived experience expert. Participants (N = 694) completed a brief survey to assess staff attitudes, namely personal competence, empathy and treatment optimism towards people with BPD pre- and post-training. They also provided open-ended feedback about what they liked most and least about the training. Personal competence, empathy and treatment optimism were significantly improved post-training. Participant characteristics related to experience and familiarity with BPD were key factors associated with training outcomes. The findings provide support for training delivered collaboratively with lived experience experts. Further research is needed to determine to what extent the lived experience perspective contributed to training outcomes.