NEW! Core Competencies for Integrated Behavioral Health

SAMHSA/HRSA and The Annapolis Coalition have released Core Competencies for Integrated Behavioral Health.

Despite the increasing national focus on integrated care, there is no single, widely recognized set of competencies on this service approach for either the behavioral health or primary care workforce. To address this gap, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) charged the Center for Integrated Health Solutions (CIHS) to identify and disseminate core competencies on integrated practice relevant to behavioral health and primary care providers. The development of these competencies was performed by the Annapolis Coalition on the Behavioral Health Workforce (http://.annapoliscoalition.org) under the auspices of CIHS.

The core competencies developed through this project are intended to serve as a resource for provider organizations as they shape job descriptions, orientation programs, supervision, and performance reviews for workers delivering integrated care. Similarly, the competencies are to be a resource for educators as they shape curricula and training programs on integrated care. The charge was to develop a "core" or "common" set of competencies broadly relevant to working in diverse settings with diverse populations. The competency sets are not intended to be setting or population specific. Their principal relevance is to the integration of behavioral health with primary care as opposed to the integration of behavioral health with specialty medical care.

Your organization can use the report’s nine competencies (i.e.,  interpersonal communication, collaboration and teamwork, screening and assessment, care planning and coordination, intervention, cultural competency and adaption, systems oriented practice, practice-based learning and quality improvement, informatics) to shape workforce training, inform job descriptions, recruit ideal candidates, orient staff to the integrated care model, and complete performance assessments. Check out the Workforce Home Page, along with the overview on Using the Core Competencies, for more information.