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Reflection is a key component of practice, supporting social workers to learn from past experiences and navigate the uncertainty and ambiguity that is common within our work. While the benefits of reflective practice are well documented, there remains considerable debate as to how it is taught and evaluated, with variability across the health and social service professions. The authors sought to evaluate an embodied approach to teaching reflective practice, grounded in mindfulness and contemplative pedagogy. Using a mixed-methods case study research design, we evaluated the teaching approach by triangulating three sources of data: questionnaires, written reflective exercises, and a focus group. The findings suggest that the teaching approach described in this study supported participants to develop the competency of reflection in a way that was distinct from previous learning. It also supported participants to strengthen learning about themselves, both personally and professionally, and to apply mindfulness and reflection in practice. The authors see potential for expanding this teaching approach beyond the specific context of a social work direct practice course in mindfulness and recommend research to further explore adaptation of the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (Project ECHO®) is a global-guided practice initiative aimed at building primary care capacity and improving health care quality for underserved populations. This tele-education model brings together primary care providers and subject-matter specialists in online communities of practice to share knowledge, discuss complexities in patient care, and collaborate to reduce health disparities. Methods: Using co-generated clinical care recommendations from ECHO Ontario Mental Health, a mental health focused ECHO program, we explored alignment of recommendations across the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) six domains of health care quality to characterize its impact. A total of 417 recommendations, made for 32 patient cases, were analyzed using a modified directed content analysis method. Each recommendation was coded with one or multiple codes, representing each of the six IOM domains. Key examples of recommendations within each domain are described. Results: An average of 13 recommendations were generated per patient case. The effective domain occurred at least once in each complete set of patient care recommendations. The next highest occurring domain was safe (71.9%), followed by patient-centered (68.8%), efficient (40.6%), equitable (18.8%), and timely (12.5%). Recommendation distribution across the entire data set was effective (97.8%), safe (15.6%), patient-centered (12.0%), efficient (3.6%), equitable (1.9%), and timely (1.4%). Discussion: As the first study to characterize ECHO's impact using health care quality domains, the study highlights ECHO's significant focus on effective, safe, and patient-centered care. These findings can inform ways for ECHO to target quality improvement and measure impact in additional health care quality domains, such as efficient, equitable, and timely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engaging people with lived experience of mental health system encounters in the design and actualization of continuing professional development initiatives for mental health professionals can have transformative systemic impacts. Yet, despite evidence that involving people with lived experience benefits mental health professional education, far less focus has been placed on how to engage people with lived experience in continuing professional development initiatives. Tensions persist regarding the role of lived experience perspectives in continuing professional development, as well as how to establish people with lived experience as partners, educators and leaders in a thoughtful way. We propose that meaningful and equitable partnerships with people with lived experience can be realized by engaging in critical reflexivity and by systematically challenging assumptions. This paper explores three topics: (1) the current state of engagement with people with lived experience in continuing professional development initiatives; (2) barriers to meaningful engagement and (3) recommendations for using critical reflexivity to support the involvement and leadership of people with lived experience in continuing professional development for mental health professionals. Patient or Public Involvement: This viewpoint manuscript was co‐designed and co‐written by people with diverse lived and learned experiences. Each author's professional roles involve meaningfully and equitably partnering with and centring the perspectives of those with lived experience of mental health system encounters. In addition, approximately half of the authorship team identifies as having lived experience of accessing the psychiatric system and/or supporting family members who are navigating challenges related to mental health. These lived and learned experiences informed the conception and writing of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social workers have an important role in the field of mental health, and social work programs have a responsibility to prepare students for practice in the field. This scoping review mapped and synthesized the literature on mental health, addictions, and suicide in social work education and training. We found 51 articles that examined social work education in addictions (n=23), suicide (n=17), and mental health (n=7), and some articles (n=4) focused on more than one area. Most articles were empirical studies that used quantitative methods, and only one article did not examine social work education in the United States. The studies showed variability in teaching methods, format of training programs, extent to which theory and practice were linked, and the integration of culture and diversity in the programs. The articles contained recommendations to increase teaching students about mental health, addictions, and suicide in all social work programs. Studies also recommended training for faculty and field instructors, using simulation-based learning methods, including competencies in training programs that target knowledge, skills, values, and beliefs; identifying a theoretical framework; integrating culture and diversity; and evaluating training programs. The article discusses implications for best practices in social work education in mental health, addictions, and suicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Integrated primary care teams are ideally positioned to support the mental health care needs arising during the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding how COVID-19 has affected mental health care delivery within primary care settings will be critical to inform future policy and practice decisions during the later phases of the pandemic and beyond. The objective of our study was to describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on primary care teams' delivery of mental health care. Methods: A qualitative study using focus groups conducted with primary care teams in Ontario, Canada. Focus group data was analysed using thematic analysis. Results: We conducted 11 focus groups with 10 primary care teams and a total of 48 participants. With respect to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health care in primary care teams, we identified three key themes: i) the high demand for mental health care, ii) the rapid transformation to virtual care, and iii) the impact on providers. Conclusions: From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, primary care quickly responded to the rising mental health care demands of their patients. Despite the numerous challenges they faced with the rapid transition to virtual care, primary care teams have persevered. It is essential that policy and decision-makers take note of the toll that these demands have placed on providers. There is an immediate need to enhance primary care's capacity for mental health care for the duration of the pandemic and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Integrated primary care teams are ideally positioned to support the mental health care needs arising during the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding how COVID-19 has affected mental health care delivery within primary care settings will be critical to inform future policy and practice decisions during the later phases of the pandemic and beyond. The objective of our study was to describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on primary care teams' delivery of mental health care. Methods: A qualitative study using focus groups conducted with primary care teams in Ontario, Canada. Focus group data was analysed using thematic analysis. Results: We conducted 11 focus groups with 10 primary care teams and a total of 48 participants. With respect to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health care in primary care teams, we identified three key themes: i) the high demand for mental health care, ii) the rapid transformation to virtual care, and iii) the impact on providers. Conclusions: From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, primary care quickly responded to the rising mental health care demands of their patients. Despite the numerous challenges they faced with the rapid transition to virtual care, primary care teams have persevered. It is essential that policy and decision-makers take note of the toll that these demands have placed on providers. There is an immediate need to enhance primary care's capacity for mental health care for the duration of the pandemic and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work programs need to prepare students for practice in assessing mental health, addictions, and suicide risk assessment. In response to a call for increased training, we partnered with community social workers and re-designed a course on social work practice in mental health using a flipped classroom approach. We conducted a qualitative study using focus groups and individual interviews with MSW students (N = 15) to explore student perspectives on re-designed teaching approaches. Participants identified three teaching methods that increased knowledge, skills, and self-awareness: online educational modules, simulation, and integrated teaching with scaffolded learning. We discuss implications for social work education and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Primary care is the first point of access for health services and primary care teams play a central role in the coordination and integration of mental health services. The pandemic has seen a rising demand for mental health services and primary care teams are well positioned to address these needs. With the pandemic, primary care teams have made a transition to virtual care, however the impact on how teams collaborate to provide mental health care is unclear. The aim of the study is to understand primary care teams' experiences with collaboration related to mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aims Objectives Theory or Methods: A descriptive qualitative research design was employed. Family Health Teams (FHTs) are an interprofessional primary care model in Ontario. Using purposeful sampling, we sent invitational letters to executive directors of FHTs across all five Ontario Health regions. Focus groups were conducted with interprofessional healthcare providers providing mental health services in FHTs. Virtual focus groups, led by trained facilitators examined the delivery of collaborative mental health services and its impact on patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus groups were audiorecorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was used for data analysis and occurred in parallel with data collection. Highlights or Results or Key Findings: Eleven focus groups with 10 FHTs were conducted, with a total of 48 participants. Focus groups were conducted with two FHTs in each of the five Ontario Health regions. Three themes were identified in the data: i) pre-pandemic team functioning, ii) new communication processes, iii) collaboration. Teams were able to maximize collaboration from this rapid transition with the advantage of well-established team-based models prior to the pandemic. Teams created new processes for collaboration to adapt to the virtual changes via new channels of communication such as texting, video meetings and phone calls. Collaboration expanded beyond the FHT and into the communities as teams virtually collaborated with community partners. Nevertheless, some participants found virtual collaboration to be isolating due to the lack of in person communications and unscheduled hallway conversations that could only emerge in a co-located in-person setting. Conclusions: While teams found new ways of communicating, the overall experience of shifting to a virtual team was isolation with less overall collaboration. Virtual team-based communication will likely be a mode of collaboration moving forward, and its advantages and disadvantages will need to be considered. Implications for applicability/transferability sustainability and limitations: As virtual care becomes an integral way of delivering primary care, it will be crucial to understand and learn its impact on collaboration within teams. This will influence how health care providers support each other and in communities as many regions work to strengthen collaborations within Ontario Health Teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]