title: Development of the Competency Assessment Tool-Mental Health, an instrument to assess core competencies for mental health care workers.
abstract: As the focus on accountability in health care increases, there has been a corresponding emphasis on establishing core competencies for health care workers. This article discusses the development of an instrument to establish core competencies for workers in inpatient mental health settings. Twenty-six competencies were identified and rated by mental health care personnel on two subscales: the importance of the competency and how much behavioral health care workers could benefit from training on the competency. The reliability of the scale and its contributions to the training, retention and recruitment of direct care workers for behavioral health are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Center for healthy communities.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Clasen
authors.affiliation: Wright State University.
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6074-8614
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: Wright State University.
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brun
authors.affiliation: Wright State University.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mase
authors.affiliation: Center For Healthy Communities.
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cauley
mesh_terms: D004650:Employee Performance Appraisal; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000592:standards*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008605:Mental Health Services; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce