Telebehavioral Health Competencies in Interprofessional Education and Training

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Telebehavioral Health Competencies in Interprofessional Education and Training: A Pathway to Interprofessional Practice

Authors: Kenneth P. Drude; Katherine M. Hertlien; Marlene M. Maheu; Donald M. Hilty; Karen Wall

Abstract

The use of interprofessional health profession education and training (IPE) has been repeatedly identified as a means for developing greater integration and more effective health care. This paper advocates for greater IPE for telebehavioral health care professionals during graduate school, supervised experience, and independent practice. The authors propose that this can be achieved by using the recently developed interprofessional telebehavioral (TBH) competencies as a framework to organize and provide TBH education and training. Major identified barriers to IPE for TBH include professional centrism, exclusive education and training experiences, and lack of experience and training in interdisciplinary TBH teams. Proposed alternatives to promote IPE TBH include increased collaboration in educational experiences across disciplines, use of inclusive TBH training models and rotations for skills and attitudes, development of IPE TBH teams with an emphasis on competencies, and linking TBH institutional infrastructure across organizations and professions.

Introduction

Technology use and interprofessional practice are increasingly becoming the norm in the delivery of telebehavioral healthcare services. As a result, more attention is being given to how technology is incorporated in the education, training, and practice of health care professionals (e.g., Mahoney et al.2018). Professional competencies have been suggested in the past for telebehavioral health (TBH), as in-person andTBH skills may have differences (Callan et al.2017; Luxton et al. 2016; Maheu et al. 2004). Competencies dovetail with lifelong learning (LLL) and quality care for many other reasons. Programs aimed at TBH education and training typically range widely in content from providing brief, specific information on a narrow topic area (e.g., application ofHIPAA requirements for clinical use of email) to a comprehensive curriculum that includes a broad range of knowledge and skill-based competencies.

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