Perceived Educational Needs of the Integrated Care Psychiatric Consultant

• Published in: Academic psychiatry Vol. 39; no. 4; pp. 448 - 456
• Main Authors: Ratzliff, Anna, Norfleet, Kathryn, Chan, Ya-Fen, Raney, Lori, Unützer, Jurgen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.08.2015; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anxiety Disorders; Child & adolescent psychiatry; Comorbidity; Crisis Management; Delivery of Health Care, Integrated; Dementia; Eating Disorders; Educational Needs; Empirical Report; Evidence; Family Practice (Medicine); Female; Humans; Instructional Materials; Integrated delivery systems; Internal Medicine; Male; Management of crises; Material Development; Medical Education; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental depression; Mental Health; Mental health care; Middle Aged; Needs Assessment; Patients; Perception; Performance Based Assessment; Personality Problems; Pregnancy; Primary care; Primary Health Care; Psychiatrists; Psychiatry; Psychiatry - education; Psychosis; Rating Scales; Referral and Consultation; Substance abuse treatment; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teaching Methods; Teams; Careers in psychiatry; C/L psychiatry; Primary care: family practice; Interdisciplinary training; Psychoeducation; Residents: ambulatory C/L
• ISSN: 1042-9670; 1545-7230
• DOI: 10.1007/s40596-015-0360-7

Objective With the increased implementation of models that integrate behavioral health with other medical care, there is a need for a workforce of integrated care providers, including psychiatrists, who are trained to deliver mental health care in new ways and meet the needs of a primary care population. However, little is known about the educational needs of psychiatrists in practice delivering integrated care to inform the development of integrated care training experiences. Method The educational needs of the integrated care team were assessed by surveying psychiatric consultants who work in integrated care. Results A convenience sample of 52 psychiatrists working in integrated care responded to the survey. The majority of the topics included in the survey were considered educational priorities (>50 % of the psychiatrists rated them as essential) for the psychiatric consultant role. Psychiatrists’ perspectives on educational priorities for behavioral health providers (BHPs) and primary care providers (PCPs) were also identified. Almost all psychiatrists reported that they provide educational support for PCPs and BHPs (for PCP 92 %; for BHP 96 %). Conclusions The information provided in this report suggests likely educational needs of the integrated care psychiatric consultant and provides insight into the learning needs of other integrated care team members. Defining clear priorities related to the three roles of the integrated care psychiatric consultant (clinical consultant, clinical educator, and clinical team leader) will be helpful to inform residency training programs to prepare psychiatrists for work in this emerging field of psychiatry.