H09 – Clinical Supervision Competency Development within Primary Care Behavioral Health

Summary

Introduction: Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) workforce development is of great urgency due to growing behavioral health (BH) integration into primary care, specifically at a time when behavioral health needs are increasing because of the COVID-19 pandemic (Kanzler & Ogbeide, 2020). It is imperative, therefore, to support BH clinical supervisors in primary care to build up the BH workforce to meet the BH needs that often present to primary care, which is also known as the “de facto mental health system” in the United States (Ede et al., 2015). There is currently no formal training to become a BH clinical supervisor in primary care nor are there current competencies specific to clinical supervision within the PCBH model. Thus, it is also imperative to provide current and future behavioral health clinical supervisors in primary care settings with specific, measurable competencies based on expert consensus. Methods: Using a modified Delphi process, the authors aim to identify and reach expert consensus on core competencies for BH clinical supervisors in primary care. A diverse, purposive sample (Patton, 1990) of fifteen experts in PCBH Training and Education as well as faculty development were chosen precisely because they are among the most qualified experts in clinical supervision within the PCBH Consultation Model of Care (Reiter, Dobmeyer, & Hunter, 2018). The experts (N=15) have been requested to evaluate quantitative and qualitative behavioral anchors associated with core competencies of PCBH supervision gathered during initial in-depth interviews, as well as 3 subsequent rounds of Delphi feedback surveys to reach consensus. Expected Results and Discussion: Because education and workforce development depend on having clearly defined target performance expectations, the final product will be a listing of the desired behavioral anchors within specific competencies for BH providers providing clinical supervision to pre-licensure BH trainees in the primary care setting. Unlike existing guidance, this list of competencies will represent a consensus statement arrived at through both qualitative and quantitative iterative means with a broad base of experts in the field. The development of competencies will further support BH clinical supervisor needs, professional development, and provide a concrete way to evaluate progress towards teaching and training excellence – which will also have a great impact on the development of the future BH workforce within primary care.