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.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health Training Programs for Non-specialist Mental Health Professionals in Low and Middle Income Countries: A Scoping Review of Literature

“…Figure 1 shows the flow diagram of the search. Table 1 shows that the studies included described programs in the LMICs: Brazil (Blanco-Vieira et al, 2017 ), Uganda (Akol et al, 2017 ), Nigeria (Omigbodun et al, 2007 ), India (Dogra et al, 2005 ; Russell & Nair, 2010a , 2010b ), and Ethiopia (Tesfaye et al, 2014 ). Of these seven articles included, three of them were focused in India, of which two described the same program, therefore in total, there were six different programs from five LMICs that were included in this study.…”

“…The Brazilian program (Blanco-Vieira et al, 2017 )—The authors studied the CESMIA program, an 18 month (360 h) postgraduate course which used a problem-based learning method. CESMIA catered to professionals from multiple disciplines with the main goal of training those involved in the care of children and adolescents with mental health problems, preferably in the public system (Table 3 in Appendix).…”

Strategies by Educators within the School Setting to Prevent and Cope with the Experience of Domestic Violence by Adolescents

“…Em estudo realizado em um município da Bahia, constatou-se que a parceria com serviços socioassistenciais reduz o número de casos de violência, conflitos e até dificuldades de aprendizagem, uma vez que teriam os encaminhamentos e acompanhamentos adequados para o tratamento da questão (7). Outra experiência de parceria intersetorial exitosa consiste no Programa Saúde na Escola, que merece destaque devido à articulação das redes públicas de saúde e de educação que vem favorecendo o desenvolvimento da cidadania e da qualificação das políticas públicas brasileiras, além do reconhecimento dos casos de violência doméstica (19).…”

“…Estudo realizado na Costa da África Oriental aponta justamente para a necessidade do preparo de profissionais que atuam junto ao público infanto-juvenil, a exemplo dos profissionais da saúde e da educação, para investigar e discernir se as lesões foram causadas por acidentes ou por violência (6). Nesse processo, a educação permanente pode ser uma das estratégias utilizadas para que os profissionais possam se capacitar para reconhecer os casos e agir sobre eles (7).…”

Ganho de Conhecimento no Internato Médico em Psiquiatria Não Reduz Estigmatização dos Transtornos Mentais

“…Esperava-se que a adoção de elementos já apontados como importantes para o sucesso de programas educacionais em saúde mental, como metodologias ativas de ensino-aprendizagem, abordagem de temas e conteúdos relacionados à prática diária do treinamento dos estudantes e envolvimento de docentes especialistas tanto na elaboração quanto na execução do programa 8,15 , fossem suficientes para produzir ganhos nas duas dimensões.…”