Over the past decade, a new paradigm in behavioral health care has emerged that emphasizes the following themes: cost control and cost effectiveness; evidence-based practice and the use of practice guidelines; patient safety; assessment of outcomes; partnerships with consumers and families in the treatment process; treatment of mental disorders and addictions; intervention in primary care settings and with those who do not seek treatment; and the provision of services that are relevant to the race, gender, and ethnicity of the consumer. Unfortunately, most education and training programs have not kept pace with these changes in the field. Research on continuing education has demonstrated that it has virtually no impact on provider behavior or consumer outcomes. As a consequence, the current behavioral health workforce is largely unprepared for many aspects of the contemporary health care environment. The objective of this project is to convene a national Conference on Behavioral Health Workforce Education as the first of several steps in an initiative to address the gap between provider education and the new paradigm in behavioral health care delivery. Participants will convene in Annapolis, MD on September 10-11, 2001 to develop consensus recommendations on: (a) curriculum content, (b) educational best practices, and (c) strategies for promoting change within education and training programs. These recommendations will be tailored to the needs of three groups: (a) students in professional programs, (b) professionals currently in the workforce, and (c) individuals without a professional education who provide a large portion of the care in the nation's public sector mental health and substance abuse treatment systems. This conference proposal is designed to address AHRQ's core agenda by developing more effective strategies for disseminating health services research information to students and practitioners in order to shape the delivery of behavioral health services, enhancing the quality, outcome, and safety of the care provided.
