An evaluation of a collaborative course for child and adolescent mental health professionals

ABSTRACT

There is a considerable gap between the offer and the demand for mental health treatment of children and adolescents, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Permanent education in these countries is a promising and needed strategy to reduce this gap. This study was designed to evaluate the perceived impact of an educational intervention for child and adolescent mental health professionals in Brazil, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Specialization Course (CESMIA). The intervention consisted of a 360-hour interprofessional postgraduation course. The CESMIA offered lectures and small-group case discussions for exchanging their experiences in dealing with the patients. The students were placed in these groups according to their professions in order to ensure a proportional distribution of healthcare professionals in each group. The evaluation employed a quasi-experimental design by the use of a knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) survey. The 39 participants reported significant improvement in all KAP dimensions. More specifically, the data indicated a 17% improvement for attitudes, a 9.4% increase for knowledge, and a 14% improvement for the practice dimensions. The CESMIA appeared to improve the level of knowledge of participants and their attitudes and actions towards patients, which reinforces the relevance of similar courses.

KEYWORDS:

• Child and adolescent mental health
• education
• evaluation research
• interprofessional education

Acknowledgements

The students and the whole team of teachers involved in the idealisation, planning, implementation, and evaluation of the CESMIA project are acknowledged.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Funding

This work was supported by the Federal University of São Paulo research support foundation (FAP-UNIFESP) by proving a scholarship for the first author, Thiago Blanco-Vieira.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Federal University of São Paulo research support foundation (FAP-UNIFESP) by proving a scholarship for the first author, Thiago Blanco-Vieira.