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An interdisciplinary approach is critical to provide effective behavioral healthcare to youth and their families from diverse backgrounds. Behavioral health conditions are multi-faceted and require coordinated input from multiple disciplines. Disciplines embrace their unique mission, knowledge, theories, and practices. Interprofessional education (IPE) fosters collaboration, understanding, and communication among professionals from different disciplines that are critical for behavioral health workforce training and positive clients’ outcomes. Interprofessional collaboration is especially important for youth from diverse backgrounds. Disparities in behavioral health outcomes among Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) raise persistent concerns in the US. For LGBTQIA+ youth, levels of unmet need are even higher, with 54% of those who wanted counseling not receiving it; for youth with intersectional identities, rates exceeded 60%. The significant disparities in health and mental health outcomes and quality of care among marginalized groups are partly due to a lack of cultural competency among providers. Research also suggests that culturally responsive and inclusive care positively impacted on behavioral health outcomes of youth from diverse backgrounds.
Funded by Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), this study examined the outcomes of an interprofessional workforce training program that prepared graduate students in social work, psychiatric nursing, and school psychology to provide culturally responsive and inclusive behavioral health services for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ youth and their families.
Methods
This quasi-experimental study examined outcomes of program students from 4 cohorts (n=104) versus a comparison group of non-program students from the same cohort year and practice focus area (n=113). Assessment of interprofessional education (Student Perceptions of Interprofessional Clinical Education SPICE-R2), multicultural clinical knowledge and skills (Multicultural Counseling Self-Efficacy Scale - MCSE), and cultural responsiveness (Intercultural Effectiveness Scale – IES) occurred pre-program, post-program at graduation, and nine months after graduation when students were employed. In addition, thematic analyses were used to analyze data from focus groups with students at the end of each program year to explore their experience with the program and how it helped them in their learning process.
Results
Statistically significant increases among program students were observed from baseline to graduation on each of these scales, and these changes were sustained at nine months post-graduation. Improved outcomes were found on all subscales and the total score of MCSE (F=200.232, p<0.001), five of the six subscales and the total score of IES (F=12.028, p<0.001), two of the three subscales and the total score of SPICE-R2 (F=41.655, p<0.001). Significant between-group differences were also observed on one subscale of IES (Behavioral Flexibility, F=7.524, p=0.007) and across all subscales of SPICE-R2 including the total score (F=28.697, p<0.001). Qualitative data supported this demonstrated professional and personal growth among program students around interprofessional practice and culturally responsive care.
Conclusion and Implications
Empirical evidence supports the positive impact of an interprofessional education approach on trainees’ learning about culturally responsive and inclusive behavioral health care. Intentional pedagogical preparation to provide interprofessional, culturally responsive, and inclusive care for youth from diverse backgrounds should be an integral part of coordinated educational and professional efforts to facilitate equitable behavioral healthcare services.