MedPath

Supporting the Mental Health Workforce

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Mental Health
Interventions
Behavioral: Mental Health Peer Workforce Support
Registration Number
NCT03709537
Lead Sponsor
The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
Brief Summary

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.

Detailed 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.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
366
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.

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Mental Health Peer Workforce SupportMental Health Peer Workforce SupportSites 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.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Mental Health Stigma10 months

This outcome will be assessed by asking the peer supervisor a set of 15 likert-scale questions about their feelings towards individuals with mental health issues.

1= Strongly Disagree 5= Strongly Agree

Peer-supportive organizational climate10 months

Peer-supportive organizational climate will be assessed by a set of 6 likert-scale questions that asks about the participant about his/her organization's administrative leadership and the support they provide.

1= Strongly Disagree (with positive statement about organization) 7= Strongly Disagree (with positive statement about organization)

Peer Worker Recovery10 months

This outcome will be assessed by a set of 24 likert scale questions that ask the participants how they feel about themselves and their lives.

1= Strongly Disagree (with positive statement about self) 5= Strongly Agree (with positive statement about self)

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Peer worker contributions (as rated by supervisor)10 Months

This outcome will be measured by a set of 12 likert scale questions.

1= Strongly Disagree 7= Strongly Agree

Peer worker time spent on peer support activities10 Months

This outcome will be measured by asking the peer workers to rate how much time they spend on 9 different support activities on a typical week-- from "None" to "40 hours plus".

Peer worker mental health problems10 Months

This outcome will be assessed by a set of 27 likert-scale questions that asks the participant how frequent they have experienced feelings of distress in the past 30 days.

1= Not all (pertaining to negative statement) 5= Extremely (pertaining to negative statement)

Peer worker social support10 Months

This outcome will be assessed by having the peer workers answer some questions about the people in their environment who provide them with help or support.

1= Very satisfied (with specific person's support) 6= Very dissatisfied (with specific person's support)

Supervisor's peer support attitudes10 Months

This outcome will be assessed by asking the peer supervisor a set of three likert-scale questions about the importance of peer support for mental health services.

1=Not important at all 10 =Extremely Important

Supervisor's job satisfaction10 Months

This outcome will be measured using one likert-scale question that asks how satisfied the supervisors are with their job- from 1 (highly unsatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied).

Supervisor/peer worker relationship (as rated by supervisor)10 Months

This outcome will be measured by a set of 12 likert scale questions from the Supervisory Relationship Measure developed by Pearce et al. 2012.

1= Strongly Disagree (with positive statement about peer worker) 5= Strongly Agree (with positive statement about peer worker)

Peer worker job satisfaction10 Months

This outcome will be measured using one likert-scale question that asks how satisfied the peer workers are with their job- from 1 ("highly unsatisfied") to 5 ("very satisfied").

Peer worker sick leave and disability days10 Months

This outcome will be measured with the following question from the Stapelfeldt et al 2012 instrument:

"How many sick leave or disability days has _____ had within the last 6 months?"

Recovery orientation of services10 Months

This outcome will be measured with 4 questions that ask the peer workers to rate their level of agreement with statements about their organization's treatment of service users (or clients)

1= Strongly Disagree (with positive statement about services) 7= Strongly Agree (with positive statement about services)

Supervision quality (as rated by peer workers)10 Months

This outcome will be assessed with a set of 7 likert scale questions that ask about the peer worker's experience with their supervisor.

1= Strongly Disagree (with positive statement about supervisor) 7= Strongly Agree (with positive statement about supervisor)

Peer worker discrimination experience10 Months

This will be measured with a set of 5 likert scale questions that asks the peer worker about their experience with discrimination due to their mental health.

1= Strongly Disagree (with statement about negative experience) 5= Strongly Agree (with statement about negative experience)

Peer worker work-related burnout10 Months

This will assesses with a set of 7 likert scale questions that ask the peer worker for the frequency of certain experiences at their job.

1= Always 5= Never/Almost Never

Peer worker stress10 Months

This outcome will be measured by a set of 6 likert scale questions that ask the peer worker to rate the frequency that they have had stressful experiences in the past 30 days.

1= Never (pertaining to negative statement) 5= Very Often (pertaining to negative statement)

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

SHARE! Self-Help and Recovery Exchance

🇺🇸

Culver City, California, United States

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