RESUMEN
Globally, there has not been a standardised approach to ensure that the growing number of people who are not licensed clinicians but are delivering psychological interventions and mental health services have the competencies to deliver those interventions and services safely. Therefore, WHO and UNICEF developed Ensuring Quality in Psychosocial and Mental Health Care (EQUIP). EQUIP is a free resource with a digital platform that can be used to guide competency assessment. We describe EQUIP's 5-year development (2018-23) and the rationale supporting its contents and use. Development phases included establishing consensus for competency-based strategies; selecting foundational competencies; evaluating feasibility of assessments, role plays, and technology; piloting EQUIP when training non-specialists; and public dissemination and ongoing adaptations to increase scalability. From the public launch in March, 2022, through to March, 2024, EQUIP's digital platform has been used in 794 training programmes in 36 countries with 3760 trainees resulting in 10 001 competency assessments.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The use of feedback to address gaps and reinforce skills is a key component of successful competency-based mental health and psychosocial support intervention training approaches. Competency-based feedback during training and supervision for personnel delivering psychological interventions is vital for safe and effective care. AIMS: For non-specialists trained in low-resource settings, there is a lack of standardised feedback systems. This study explores perspectives on competency-based feedback, using structured role-plays that are featured on the Ensuring Quality in Psychosocial and Mental Health Care (EQUIP) platform developed by the World Health Organization and United Nations Children's Fund. METHOD: Qualitative data were collected from supervisors, trainers and trainees from multiple EQUIP training sites (Ethiopia, Kenya, Lebanon, Peru and Uganda), from 18 key informant interviews and five focus group discussions (N = 41 participants). Qualitative analysis was conducted in Dedoose, using a codebook with deductively and inductively developed themes. RESULTS: Four main themes demonstrated how a competency-based structure enhanced the feedback process: (a) competency-based feedback was personalised and goal-specific, (b) competency-based feedback supported a feedback loop, (c) competency-based feedback supported a comfortable and objective feedback environment, and (d) competency-based feedback created greater opportunities for flexibility in training and supervision. CONCLUSIONS: A better understanding of the role of feedback supports the implementation of competency-based training that is systematic and effective for trainers and supervisors, which ultimately benefits the learning process for trainees.