Evaluation of an Interprofessional Educational Intervention in Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disability for Health and Social Service Trainees

Objective: Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experience high rates of poor mental health and challenges accessing timely and high-quality services. There is limited interprofessional training on mental health care for this population.

Methods: A virtual, synchronous program based on the Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) Ontario IDD Mental Health program was developed for health and social service trainees. Participants represented 10 disciplines across 12 Canadian university or college programs. The program was taught by a team of health and social service providers together with individuals with lived experience and included didactics and case-based discussions. Program evaluation utilized a pre-, post-, and 12-week follow-up survey design with feedback surveys following each session.

Results: Fifty participants registered for the program; 34 (68%) completed baseline measures and attended at least two sessions. Overall, participants reported high session satisfaction (average rating of 4.47 of 5). Participants demonstrated significant improvement in self-efficacy regarding communication (p < 0.001), management of mental health needs (p < 0.001), and working across systems (p < 0.001). Participants self-reported feeling more knowledgeable about common comorbidities (p < 0.001), assessing behavioral challenges (p < 0.001), the role of interdisciplinary professionals (p < 0.001), and community resources (p < 0.001). Improvements were maintained at follow-up across outcomes.

Conclusion: The pilot Project ECHO for health and social service trainees in adult IDD mental health demonstrated high participant satisfaction and positive impact on trainees' self-efficacy and knowledge. Interprofessional educational interventions can be effectively implemented using virtual technology to teach about other mental health populations requiring multisector care.