title: Creating a learning culture.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This column describes the efforts of an agency to build a learning culture as part of changing their approach to service delivery, when adopting a focus on psychiatric rehabilitation and recovery.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This example of one organization's challenges and successes in workforce development provides an alternative approach to the common single-session staff training that typically fails to change practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  This description draws from published material on communities of practice, technical consultation, and agency experience.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Training alone is not enough to create change. An organizational commitment to ongoing quality improvement, along with available and accessible technical assistance for staff, creates an environment where change is anticipated, managed, and celebrated.
authors.affiliation: Canadian Mental Health Association.
authors.forename: Karyn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mathewson
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015279:Organizational Culture; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D013192:Staff Development / Q000458:organization & administration*