Building a Diverse Psychiatric Workforce for the Future and Helping Them Thrive: Recommendations for Psychiatry Training Directors.

The COVID-19 pandemic and murder of Mr George Floyd served as catalysts for examining antiracism efforts in psychiatry training programs and health care systems. Our recruitment and retention of Black, Indigenous, and other racial/ethnic minority psychiatry trainees has not met the demand for care and does not represent the communities served. Training directors at a critical juncture in creating systemic changes to recruitment, retention, policies, and curricular competencies to address ongoing inequities and disparities in health care. We describe several strategies and considerations for training directors in supporting a diverse psychiatric workforce.

Building a Diverse Psychiatric Workforce for the Future and Helping Them Thrive: Recommendations for Psychiatry Training Directors.

The COVID-19 pandemic and murder of Mr George Floyd served as catalysts for examining antiracism efforts in psychiatry training programs and health care systems. Our recruitment and retention of Black, Indigenous, and other racial/ethnic minority psychiatry trainees has not met the demand for care and does not represent the communities served. Training directors at a critical juncture in creating systemic changes to recruitment, retention, policies, and curricular competencies to address ongoing inequities and disparities in health care. We describe several strategies and considerations for training directors in supporting a diverse psychiatric workforce.

Partnerships in Research to Implement and Disseminate Sustainable and Scalable Evidence-Based Practices (PRIDE) in Mozambique.

BACKGROUND: Mental health conditions impose a major burden worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where health specialists are scarce. A challenge to closing LMICs' mental health treatment gap is determining the most cost-effective task-shifting pathway for delivering mental health services using evidence-based interventions (EBIs). This article discusses the protocol for the first study implementing comprehensive mental health services in LMICs. METHODS: In partnership with the Mozambican Ministry of Health, this cluster-randomized, hybrid implementation effectiveness type-2 trial will evaluate implementation, patient, and service outcomes of three task-shifting delivery pathways in 20 Mozambican districts (population 4.7 million). In pathway 1 (usual care), community health workers (CHWs) and primary care providers (PCPs) refer patients to district-level mental health clinics. In pathway 2 (screen, refer, and treat), CHWs screen and refer patients to PCPs for behavioral and pharmacological EBIs in community clinics. In pathway 3 (community mental health stepped care), CHWs screen patients and deliver behavioral EBIs in the community and refer medication management cases to PCPs in clinics. Mixed-methods process evaluation will be used to examine factors affecting pathway implementation, adoption, and sustainability. Clinical activities will occur without research team support. Ministry of Health personnel will coordinate training and supervision. RESULTS: The most cost-effective pathway will be scaled up in all districts for 12 months. NEXT STEPS: This novel study integrating comprehensive mental health services into primary care will inform a toolkit to help the Mozambican Ministry of Health scale up the most cost-effective pathway for mental health services and can be a template for other LMICs.

Perspectives of Individuals With Serious Mental Illness on a Reverse-Colocated Care Model: A Qualitative Study.

OBJECTIVE: Individuals with serious mental illness experience excess mortality related to general medical comorbidities. Reverse-integrated and reverse-colocated models of care have been proposed as a system-level solution. Such models integrate primary care services within behavioral health settings. Further understanding of consumer perspectives on these models is needed to ensure that models adequately engage consumers on the basis of their expressed needs. This qualitative study examined the perspectives of English- and Spanish-speaking individuals with serious mental illness on their current experience with the management of their medical care and on a hypothetical reverse-colocated care model. METHODS: Semistructured interviews were conducted in a purposive sample of 30 individuals with serious mental illness recruited from two outpatient mental health clinics affiliated with a comprehensive community-based program. The interview assessed the participant's current experience with the management of their health care, followed by a vignette describing a reverse--colocated care model and questions to elicit the participant's reaction to the vignette. An inductive thematic analysis was employed. RESULTS: Consumers expressed positive views of the potential for working with trusted staff, increased communication, and access to care through reverse colocation. Reflections on current health management experience were notable for an emphasis on self-efficacy and receipt of support for self-management strategies from mental health clinicians. CONCLUSIONS: Study findings add to prior literature indicating support for assistance with management of general medical health in the mental health setting among individuals with serious mental illness. Key themes similar to those in previous studies generate hypotheses for further evaluation.