Supporting the Mental Health Workforce

The University of Texas System (UT)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Mental Health

Treatments: Behavioral: Mental Health Peer Workforce Support

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03709537

HSC-SPH-18-0357

Details and patient eligibility

About

Emotional Health Association will engage Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health providers that employ peer workers in a training and technical assistance intervention designed to support, increase, and retain an effective peer workforce. This intervention consists of a Co-Learning Collaborative, several training sessions, and the creation of Implementation Teams. Peer workers will also be encouraged to attend Recovery International, an established network of self-help support groups for mental health. Dr. Louis Brown will lead an evaluation of the efficacy of the intervention. This study will inform the use of peer workers as a component of the mental health workforce.

Full description

Evaluation of the the intervention with the peer workforce will be conducted through administration of web-based surveys of peer workers and peer supervisors at baseline and follow-up (10 months post-baseline). These two surveys will be administered to peer workers and peer supervisors at sites enrolled in the study. A letter of informational detailing the risks of participation will accompany the survey. Individuals who do not complete the web-based survey will be invited to complete a telephone interview with the same questions. Sites (where one or more peer supervisors and peer workers are located) will be randomized to either the intervention group or standard practice control group. The intervention group will engage in Co-Learning Collaborative, several training sessions, and the creation of Implementation Teams. Peer workers from the intervention group will also be encouraged to attend Recovery International, an established network of self-help support groups for mental health. Analysis of the surveys collected from both study groups will be conducted to assess the efficacy of the intervention and provide Emotional Health Association with a final report.

Enrollment: 366 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• All service providing sites within the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health will be invited to participate in the study. Sites not affiliated with the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health will be allowed to enroll in the study if they express interest but will not be actively recruited.
• Participants must be a peer worker or supervisor of peer workers at a site participating in the study.

Exclusion criteria

• Peers who do not receive pay and volunteer for less that 15 hours per week.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Health Services Research

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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366 participants in 2 patient groups

Mental Health Peer Workforce Support

Experimental group

Description:

Sites assigned to this group will engage in Co-Learning Collaborative, several trainings, and the creation of Implementation Teams--all part of the intervention and designed to support their peer workforce.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mental Health Peer Workforce Support

Control Group

No Intervention group

Description:

Sites assigned to this group will continue practice as usual and not receive any additional peer worker training or technical assistance.