Download Launch of the National Mental Health Core Capabilities

Launch of the National Mental Health Core Capabilities Resource
Health Workforce Australia (HWA) has recently launched an important new resource for all
professionals delivering mental health services called the National Mental Health Core Capabilities
(NMHCC). It is relevant to direct care practitioners through to those with managerial responsibilities.
Social workers reading the document will be pleased to find that many of the concepts are familiar
to our profession, especially its person centred focus and compatibility with the recovery approach.
Apart from introducing the resource I will also make a few comments about my experience of the
consultation process and the resource’s relevance to social work.
Health Workforce Australia (HWA) developed these capabilities as part of the National Health
Workforce Innovation and Reform Strategic Framework for Action 2011-2015. HWA has identified a
number of looming challenges facing the mental health workforce nationally in the coming years.
These include worsening staff shortages, an ageing workforce, difficulty attracting workers to the
speciality of mental health and a high level of reliance on overseas trained professionals.
The NMHCC have been developed to support work place innovation and reform at local, state and
national levels. The capabilities are intended to fulfil this purpose by promoting the development of
common behaviours needed within the workforce for the delivery of high quality care that accords
with the needs and expectations of people using the services, and their families and carers.
The capabilities address core elements of common mental health practice across the mental health
workforce. They are intended to complement the valuable, discipline specific contributions of each
work force group, and to address the shared capabilities, values and attitudes required when
working in an interdisciplinary mental health service. (NMHCC, 2014)
The NMHCC resource is designed for use in the following areas
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Workforce and service planning
Workforce and service redesign
Individual and organisational development
Education and training
Recruitment, selection and induction
The distinction between “competencies” and “capabilities” is an important one in this context. The
term “capabilities” is chosen and preferred because it is felt “capabilities” can encompass qualities
sought not just in higher education settings but also in vocational training and the establishment of
peer–support networks.
The capabilities are organised in six domains:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Values
Diversity and whole person focus
Professional, ethical and legal approach
Collaborative practice
Provision of care
Life– long learning
Under each domain, similar or related activities are grouped together. The capabilities then specify
observable or measurable actions expected of the mental health workforce when performing each
activity. These behaviours are specified at four levels which reflect an increasing degree of
autonomy, complexity and strategic awareness for the activity being performed.
In November 2013 I represented the AASW at one of a series of consultations in which a variety of
stake holders, including mental health service managers, educators, consumers and carers, were
invited to give feedback on a penultimate drafts of the resource. In the consultation we worked in
small groups for part of the day. Each group examined a domain of the capabilities in some detail in
order to reflect on how well the accompanying concepts were captured in the written descriptions.
My group consisted of academics and mental health educators and many of them were involved in
the education of trainee psychiatrists. We worked on the Collaborative Practice Domain. We thought
the draft description for this domain captured essential themes and was a very good blueprint for
practice. Our group discussion ranged over issues of hierarchy, power and status in the mental
health workforce. We also noted differences in these issues across different contexts, such as
hospital or community settings, private practice, NGO and peer–support groups.
As a social worker two key messages emerged for me from our discussion. Firstly, we need to teach
our students and beginning practitioners to see collaboration and interdisciplinary respect as
required elements of modern mental health care practice and not just up to the whims or
personality of more senior and powerful team members. Secondly, social workers need to be able to
readily articulate what are the unique and valuable elements they can contribute in interdisciplinary
mental health care practice and to articulate the value of their contribution, not just in terms of care
of the client and their family, but also in terms of team function, policy work and community
development.
The NMHCC promises to be a useful resource for social workers, the broader mental health work
force and for consumers and their carers.
The document is available online at http://www.hwa.gov.au/publication/national-mental-healthcore-capabilities.
By Dr Paul Andrews, Convenor
AASW National Mental Health Committee