Models of mental health training for primary care physicians: a validation study

Since the majority of persons with alcohol, drug abuse, and/or mental disorders (19%) of Americans during any 6-month period are seen exclusively within the general health sector, it is imperative to know the quality and quantity of mental health training for primary care residents. In this study, the five program training model types previously described--Consultation, Liaison, Bridge, Hybrid, Autonomous--are validated by a random sampling technique using a structured instrument to test eight hypotheses developed before data collection to preclude post hoc interpretations. Of 250 programs, 147 responded (60%): 67 Family Practice, 42 Primary Internal Medicine, and 38 Internal Medicine. Since all eight hypotheses were supported by the data, the construct validity of the program model types is significantly substantiated. Multiple discriminant analysis revealed that the relationships between twelve training program characteristics and the five program model types were such that the former could explain 57% of the variance in the latter and correctly classify 89% of the programs.     

Programs for the development of physician leaders: a curricular process in its infancy.

Physician leaders are crucial as never before to ensure the proper integration of good care and cost containment; such integration is both a reasonable expectation of patients and essential for the survival of health care delivery systems. In today's health care environment, a critical mass of physician leaders must be developed in a systematic fashion so that physicians may truly lead the health care enterprise. The authors (1) describe, with examples, the various types and levels of physician leadership training programs currently being offered; (2) explain the costs and benefits of each program type; and (3) offer a program rationale and model (using a program at their medical school), which they analyze using traditional management concepts such as strategic planning, net present value, and make-versus-buy. The authors emphasize that physician leadership training should be local, offer long-term instruction, and be led by physicians. They conclude by stating that the concept of physician leadership will not and should not be taken seriously by non-physician health care executives until the physician community becomes as serious about leadership and management training as it is about clinical training.     

Psychosocial training in U.S. internal medicine and family practice residency programs.

PURPOSE: Competence in the psychosocial aspects of medical care is necessary for primary care physicians to function effectively. This study investigated the psychosocial training internal medicine and family practice residents receive in U.S. programs. METHODS: In 1996, program directors of all U.S. internal medicine (IM) and family practice (FP) residency programs were surveyed regarding the format, content, and quantity of psychosocial training provided in their programs, their opinions on topics related to psychosocial training, and demographics of their programs. RESULTS: The response rate was 61%. Ninety-nine percent of FP and 62% of IM program directors reported requiring at least one psychosocial training experience. Family practice programs required an average of 352 hours (SD +/- 175; range 27-2,664) of psychosocial training compared with 118 hours (SD +/- 272; range 0-1,050) for IM programs. Most IM and FP program directors expected residents to achieve at least basic competency in virtually all psychosocial topic areas; however, FP programs provided a greater range of psychosocial experiences. FP program directors most often identified psychologists and IM program directors most often identified internists as providing the most psychosocial training in their programs. Both IM and FP program directors considered lack of curricular time to be the main obstacle to development of psychosocial training. CONCLUSION: Residents' competence in psychosocial areas is important to both IM and FP program directors. However, content and time devoted to psychosocial training vary considerably both within and between program types.     

Correspondence between child dysfunction and program intrusion: Evidence of a continuum of care across five child mental health programs

A fundamental goal of the continuum of care concept is high correspondence between child dysfunction and program intrusiveness. Yet the small body of relevant research has identified major discrepancies. We used the Child Behavior Checklist to compare entry-level behavior problems of children from five child mental health programs sequenced in order of level of intrusiveness: Outpatient clinic, parent training, intensive family preservation services (IFPS), residental care, and inpatient hospitalization. Our results contrast with existing research by showing correspondence between level of child dysfunction and program intrusiveness. A possible reason for our contrasting results is that we included a larger number of mental health programs than were used in previous studies. These results are important because they reflect the continuum of care concept being put into practice and support the assertion that increasing mental health options with alternative community mental health programs increases the chances of appropriate treatment for children in trouble.     

Mental health intervention programs in primary care: their scientific basis.

This study examines the scientific basis for mental health intervention programs in primary care. The validity of five underlying assumptions is evaluated, using the results of a naturalistic study covering a representative sample of 25 Dutch family practices and data from the literature. Our findings corroborate the validity of the assumptions. Firstly, our study indicates that mental disorders are indeed very prevalent in primary care settings. Secondly, we find that a substantial proportion of mental disorders is not recognized by the general practitioner (GP). Thirdly, our data show that mental disorders in primary care are not transient or self-limiting. Fourthly, it is shown that only half of the GP attenders with a mental disorder receive some form of mental health treatment in the 14 months after their index consultation. Finally, our data suggest that mental disorders, when identified, can be treated effectively in primary care. These findings are in general agreement with the literature. In the discussion we underscore the need for public health intervention programs targeted at primary care providers. Training programs for general physicians must be directed at improving recognition and diagnosis and at enhancing the availability and quality of mental health interventions. The effectiveness of these programs has to be tested in randomized trials.     

A new paradigm for teaching behavior change: Implications for residency training in family medicine and psychiatry

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Primary care physicians (PCPs) provide ~50 % of all mental health services in the U.S. Given the widening gap between patient mental health needs and resources available to meet those needs, there is an increasing demand for family medicine and psychiatry trainees to master competencies in both behavioral medicine and primary care counseling during residency-if for no other reason than to accommodate the realities of medical practice given the oft present gap between the need for psychiatric services and the availability, quality, and/or affordability of specialized psychiatric care. To begin to address this gap, a skills-based, interactive curriculum based on motivational interviewing (MI) as a teaching method is presented. METHODS: The curriculum described in this paper is a four-week block rotation taught in the second year of residency. Motivational interviewing (MI) is used as a teaching approach toward the goal of clinical behavior change. Residents' strengths, personal choice and autonomy are emphasized. Each week of the rotation, there is a clinical topic and a set of specific skills for mastery. Residents are offered a "menu" of skills, role modeling, role/real play, practice with standardized patients (SP), and direct supervision in clinic. RESULTS: Thirty-nine residents have completed the curriculum. Based on residents' subjective reporting using pre-post scales (i.e., importance and confidence), all participants to date have reported substantial increases in confidence/self-efficacy using primary care counseling skills in their continuity clinic. CONCLUSIONS: This paper presents an innovative, empirically based model for teaching the essential skills necessary for physicians providing care for patients with mental/emotional health needs as well as health-behavior change concerns. Implications for training in the broader context, particularly as it relates to multi-disciplinary and collaborative models of teaching/training are discussed.     

Community-based mental health training

Community-based mental health training programs are characterized by their location within the neighborhood to be served and by the involvement of community members in program planning, implementation, and evaluation. Community-based programs are joint efforts, and use the resources of both institutions of higher learning and community organizations or agencies. This article describes one such effort: a mental health paraprofessional training program held on-site at The Woodlawn Organization, in Chicago, Illinois. The two-year project provided bachelor's level education to members of the Woodlawn community, allowing them to assume roles as mental health leaders for Woodlawn. The Woodlawn Organization represents the people of the community, and had a long history of involvement in building self-determination for its members. This concept provided an underlying motivation for the mental health training program as well. Students were trained, not just to deliver direct services, but to develop and implement mental health programs that would respond to the priorities set by the citizens of Woodlawn.     

汶川地震受灾地区灾后社区、乡镇卫生院工作者精神卫生服务能力评估

目的:了解汶川受灾地区社区、乡镇卫生院工作者的精神卫生知识掌握情况及精神卫生服务能力,为精神卫生培训提供依据,为我国精神卫生服务体系建设提供科学参考。方法:选取灾后社区、乡镇卫生工作者心理卫生服务技能培训班学员353名为研究样本,回收有效问卷313份。使用自编精神卫生知识评估问卷和精神卫生服务调查表进行评估。自编精神卫生知识评估问卷包含抑郁症、酒精依赖、精神分裂症(阳性症状为主)、创伤后应激障碍和躯体形式障碍5种精神障碍。结果:受灾地区乡镇、社区卫生院工作者对于社区5种精神障碍准确诊断率最高的案例为抑郁症(77.0%),药物处理中位数得分最高的为酒依赖;非药物处理中位数得分最高的是酒依赖和创伤后应激障碍。培训前1月内报告未接诊过精神障碍患者的社区、乡镇卫生院工作者占53.4%。不知道任何1所精神卫生服务机构的卫生院工作者占35.1%;不知道精神科专科会诊的占37.7%;不能邀请精神科专科会诊的占39.6%。结论:汶川地震后,受灾地区的乡镇、社区卫生院工作者精神卫生知识和技能掌握较少,精神卫生服务能力相对弱。     

Nutrition education for cardiovascular disease prevention among low income populations--description and pilot evaluation of a physician-based model.

Low income Americans are at greatest risk for coronary heart disease but have least access to health promotion programs for life style modification. Primary care physicians may represent one of the few sources of preventive care available to the poor. However, the majority of physicians feel unprepared to help patients achieve dietary change, and few existing nutrition intervention programs address the special needs of low literacy populations. The Food for Heart Program was developed to facilitate dietary counseling experienced by primary care physicians who care for low literacy patients and to overcome barriers to behavior change faced by patients. The program consists of three components: (1) a validated dietary risk assessment that rapidly identifies atherogenic eating habits and requires no nutritional expertise to administer or interpret, (2) a structured diet treatment program that is culturally specific for a southern patient population and links practical behavior change recommendations with results of the diet assessment, and (3) a system for monitoring and reinforcement that prompts physicians to review progress, reinforce prior messages, and reward positive change. Behavior change theory is used to guide the intervention and readability of the material has been assessed at the 5-6th grade level. An evaluation study of the Food for Heart Program suggests that it has a positive impact on physician counseling and that patients are responding favorably to these efforts.     

The integrative family medicine program: an innovation in residency education.

The Integrative Family Medicine (IFM) Program is a four-year combined family medicine residency program and integrative medicine fellowship. It was created in 2003 to address the needs of four constituencies: patients who desire care from well trained integrative physicians, physicians who seek such training, the health care system which lacks a conventional integrative medicine training route, and educational leaders in family medicine who are seeking new strategies to reverse the declining interest in family medicine amongst U.S. graduates. The program was designed jointly by the University of Arizona Program in Integrative Medicine (PIM) and family medicine residency programs at Beth Israel/Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECOM), Maine Medical Center, Middlesex Hospital, Oregon Health & Science University, and the Universities of Arizona and Wisconsin. One or two residents from each of these institutions may apply, and when selected, commit to extending their training by a fourth year. They complete their family medicine residencies at their home sites, enroll in the distributed learning associate fellowship at PIM, and are mentored by local faculty members who have training in integrative medicine. To date three classes totaling twenty residents have entered the program. Evaluation is performed jointly: PIM evaluates the residents during residential weeks and through online modules and residency faculty members perform direct observation of care and review treatment plans. Preliminary data suggest that the program enhances interest amongst graduating medical students in family medicine training. The Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education Family Medicine residency review committee has awarded the pilot experimental status.     

General practice, primary care, and health service psychology: concepts, competencies, and the Combined-Integrated model

The profession of psychology is being impacted profoundly by broader changes within the national system of health care, as mental and behavioral health services are being recognized as essential components of a comprehensive, preventive, and cost-efficient primary care system. To fully define and embrace this role, the discipline of professional psychology must develop a shared disciplinary identity of health service psychology and a generalized competency-based model for doctoral education and training. This very framework has been adopted by Combined-Integrated (C-I) doctoral programs in professional psychology, which train across the practice areas (clinical, counseling, and school psychology) to provide a general and integrative foundation for their students. Because C-I programs produce general practitioners who are competent to function within a variety of health service settings, this innovative training approach has great potential to educate and train psychologists for a changing health care marketplace.     

Mental health services for residents: more important than ever.

The mental health of physicians in training is a topic of considerable concern. Recent attention to the issue of patient safety has led to examination of the relationship between residents' stress and compromised clinical performance. Few mental health programs dedicated to residents and formally structured to meet their specific needs are reported in the literature. The authors raise the question of why there are so few programs and why more residents don't take advantage of services that do exist. They then describe the development and utilization of the University of Michigan Health System's House Officer Mental Health Program. The program was structured to overcome barriers to utilization such as lack of funding, concerns about confidentiality, ease of access and residents' financial constraints and to provide comprehensive services for a wide range of diagnoses. Data are presented on the first four years of operation from 1997-01 that show increasing utilization and high levels of satisfaction over this time period by house officers at all levels of training and in all departments of the Health System. As increasing attention is paid to how to deal with medical errors, the establishment of such programs should be considered, not only as a means to address the general mental health of residents but also as an appropriate venue to deal with the stress that can contribute to and be induced by medical mishaps.     

Training primary care physicians in Chile in the diagnosis and treatment of depression

OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the results of a brief 2-day educational training program for Chilean primary care physicians that measured changes in knowledge, attitudes and practice. This World Psychiatric Association (WPA) program was adopted to overcome diagnostic and treatment problems that are found among primary care practitioners. METHODS: 37 primary care physicians from two cities in Chile and 2589 patients participated. Physician's knowledge, attitudes and clinical practice were assessed 1 month prior and 1 month following the training program. In addition, the patients that visited the clinic during a typical week completed depression symptom self-ratings, including the Zung and a DSM-IV/ICD-10 major depression checklist at both times. RESULTS: The results suggested that, with this group of Chilean doctors, the WPA program was effective in improving knowledge about depression and in changing some disorder-related attitudes. In addition, it had some limited impact on actual clinical practice, although the rate of diagnosis remained stable and the post-training agreement between physician diagnosis and patient self-report remained low. The physicians seemed more confident in treating patients and demonstrated increased use of antidepressant agents. CONCLUSION: The inclusion of primary care physicians is a central component of any initiative to reduce the treatment gap and lag of depression, but their competence to play a crucial role remains limited. Further training of primary care physicians to improve the management of major depression continues to be needed.     

Home care training in internal medicine residencies: a national survey.

PURPOSE: To determine the amount and type of training U.S. internal medicine residents receive in providing home care to patients. METHOD: A four-item questionnaire was developed and sent to the program directors of all accredited internal medicine residencies in the United States (n = 397) to assess the amounts and types of training (didactic sessions or lectures, house calls, or both) internal medicine residents receive in providing home care. Demographic information about the residency programs was also collected and analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 312 (78.6%) of the program directors responded. Sixty-eight percent of their programs included instruction in home care consisting of house calls, lectures, or both. Fewer than half of the responding programs offered any lecture in home care in their curricula, and only 25% of them included a mandatory house-call experience for trainees. Residency programs that had primary care tracks were more likely than were other programs to include either of these experiences in their curricula. CONCLUSIONS: Most internal medicine residents receive limited training in home care. As a consequence, future internists may be inadequately prepared to meet the needs of their patients, particularly as the population ages.     

The academic alliance for AIDS care and prevention in Africa.

Fourteen university-based Ugandan and North American physicians in 2001 founded a unique organization at Makerere University Faculty of Medicine in Uganda, the Academic Alliance for AIDS Care and Prevention in Africa (AA), with programs in training, research, prevention, and care. Funding was obtained from Pfizer, Inc.; in 2004, the Infectious Disease Institute (IDI) was built to house the flagship training and care programs of the AA. Although HIV/AIDS was the initial priority, other infectious diseases have been added to the AA's mission, and training has been provided to date to individuals from 26 countries in Africa. These programs are now supported by the Academic Alliance Foundation (AAF), which is based in the United States.The authors describe the AA's programs to train health care workers and to offer ongoing support for health care professionals throughout Africa, as well as efforts to strengthen the health care system within Uganda. They also outline research and clinical services carried out by the IDI and research scholarship programs supported by the AAF. They state that it is too early to judge the success of the AA, and they acknowledge that the lack of trained health care providers and of an adequate care infrastructure are major challenges in Africa. They conclude that the critical challenge facing the AAF and the IDI is to diversify the funding base to sustain current program levels. They then enumerate issues that must be addressed to ensure long-term organizational strength and stability.     

Evaluation of a one-year Masters of Public Health program for medical students between their third and fourth years.

For physicians to better treat and advise their patients on the roles of behavioral and social factors in health and disease, greater levels of competency in social and behavioral sciences are needed. Physicians should also understand the structure, financing, and administration of the health care delivery system, so that they will be able to practice medicine effectively and participate in planning and managing the delivery of care. And, improving overall public health requires that physicians understand the basic tenets of population-based medicine. One way to achieve these goals is to develop education and training programs for integrating formal public health training with formal medical training.There are many models by which a medical student or practitioner can obtain a master of public health (MPH) degree. In this article, the authors describe an accelerated one-year MPH program for competitively selected New York City medical students who have completed their third year of training and enroll at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. The Macy Scholars Program, offered between 1999 and 2007 to 12 students per year, is completed between the third and fourth years of medical school. Under full-tuition scholarships, students complete a practicum experience, attend seminars, and write a master-level paper or thesis, among other requirements. Data from an evaluation of this program demonstrate participant satisfaction and support of the program, outstanding academic performance, and the effect of public health training on their residency and career choices.     

The residency program in social medicine of Montefiore Medical Center: 37 years of mission-driven, interdisciplinary training in primary care, population health, and social medicine.

Founded in 1970 to train physicians to practice in community health centers and underserved areas, the Residency Program in Social Medicine (RPSM) of Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, has graduated 562 board-eligible family physicians, general internists, and pediatricians whose careers fulfill this mission. The RPSM was a model for federal funding for primary care residency programs and has received Title VII grants during most of its history. The RPSM has tailored its mission and structured its curriculum to promote a community and population orientation and to provide the requisite knowledge and skills for integrating social medicine into clinical practice. Six unique hallmarks of RPSM training are (1) mission-oriented resident recruitment/selection and self-management, (2) interdisciplinary collaborative training among primary care professionals, (3) community-health-center-based and community-oriented primary care education, (4) biopsychosocial and ecological family systems curriculum, (5) the social medicine core curriculum and projects, and (6) grant support through Title VII. These hallmark curricular, training, and funding elements, in which population health is deeply embedded, have been carefully evaluated, regularly revised, and empirically validated since the program's inception. Practice outcomes for RPSM graduates as leaders in and advocates for population health and the care of underserved communities are described and discussed in this case study.