Core competency model self-directed violence prevention training program for corrections: a hybrid...

Area of Science:

• Correctional health
• Mental health training
• Violence prevention

Background:

• United States correctional settings experience high rates of self-directed violence.
• Training correctional behavioral health clinicians (BHCs) in evidence-based practices is a key solution.
• The Core Competency Model for Corrections (CCM-C) targets clinician self-management and clinical care skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• Assess the feasibility, appropriateness, acceptability, and usability of the CCM-C training program.
• Evaluate the short-term impacts of CCM-C on BHCs' knowledge, attitudes, and skill usage in self-directed violence prevention.
• Explore the short-term impacts of CCM-C on BHCs' compassion fatigue.

Main Methods:

• A statewide hybrid feasibility-effectiveness trial using a waitlist control sequential cross-over design (N=60 BHCs).
• Data collection included pre-training feedback, quantitative and qualitative surveys, and self-report inventories.
• Feasibility outcomes were assessed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis; effectiveness outcomes were examined using repeated-measures ANOVA.

Main Results:

• CCM-C demonstrated high acceptability, appropriateness, feasibility, and usability, with suggestions for content refinement.
• The training significantly increased BHCs' knowledge, perceived skill mastery, and intent/actual use of self-directed violence prevention content.
• CCM-C effectively lowered compassion fatigue levels among BHCs, though attitudes toward intervening with suicidal individuals and self-harming incarcerated individuals showed mixed results.

Conclusions:

• The CCM-C program is a feasible and effective training intervention for correctional BHCs in self-directed violence prevention.
• Findings support existing literature on competency-based training models and social-cognitive theory.
• A CCM-C Toolkit will be developed to facilitate wider implementation, adaptation, and evaluation of the training program.