Innovative Adaptation of Training and Technical Assistance

The behavioral health workforce is pivotal to provide evidence-based services (EBPs) for patients with mental illnesses or substance use disorders. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing healthcare issues for these patients and highlighted the need for a well-trained workforce. The stay-at-home orders compelled a rapid transition to delivering behavioral health services from traditional face-to-face encounters to telehealth/telecommunication services. Training and technical assistance (TTA) networks supporting the behavioral health workforce's educational needs quickly moved to virtual delivery. This shift has resulted in innovations and adaptations categorized into four areas: adapting is crucial, convening stakeholders is essential, resources (human and technological) are needed, and community involvement is integral. Future TTA efforts should focus on sharing the successful virtual adaptations to EBPs.

Behavioral Healthcare Providers’ Experiences Related to use of Telehealth as a Result of the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Exploratory Study

Background: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare providers were forced to shift many services quickly from in-person to virtual, including substance use disorder (SUD) and mental health (MH) treatment services. This led to a sharp increase in use of telehealth services, with health systems seeing patients virtually at hundreds of times the rate as before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.By analyzing qualitative data about SUD and MH care providers’ experiences using telehealth, this study aims to elucidate emergent themes related to telehealth use by the front-line behavioral health workforce.Methods: This study uses qualitative data from large-scale web surveys distributed to SUD and MH providers between May and August 2020. At the end of these surveys, the following question was posed in free-response form: “Is there anything else you would like to say about use of telehealth during or after the COVID-19 pandemic?” The 391 responses to this question were analyzed for emergent themes using a conventional approach to content analysis.Results: Three major themes emerged in the data: COVID-specific experiences with telehealth, general experiences with telehealth, and recommendations to continue telehealth delivery. Convenience, access to new populations, and lack of commute were frequently cited advantages, while perceived ineffectiveness of and limited access to technology were frequently cited disadvantages. Also commonly mentioned was the relaxation of reimbursement regulations. Providers supported continuation of relaxed regulations, increased institutional support, and using a combination of telehealth and in-person care in their practices. Conclusions: This study advanced our knowledge of how the behavioral health workforce experiences telehealth delivery. Further longitudinal research comparing treatment outcomes of those receiving in-person and virtual services will be necessary to undergird organizations’ financial support, and perhaps also legislative support, of virtual SUD and MH services.

Peer support for people with psychiatric illness

This chapter focuses on peer support: when individuals with lived experience of mental illness provide support to others with similar lived experiences. It specifically explores peer support in the behavioral health workforce. It offers a comprehensive overview of peer support by addressing what peer support is, why it is needed, and what it does to effect change. It also provides a review of the effectiveness research on peer support, specific roles of peer supporters in practice, and ways to more effectively partner with peer supporters in the behavioral health field. Last a case example is given to highlight the efforts and lessons learned implementing peer supporters in the US Department of Veterans Affairs.