Course Catalogue

Nursing and Advanced Practice

Psychological well Being Practitioners (PWPs) assess and support people with common mental health problems in the self- management of their recovery. To do so they must be able to undertake a range of patient-centred assessments and be able to identify the main areas of concern relevant to the assessment undertaken. They need to have knowledge and competence to be able to apply these in a range of different assessment formats and settings. In all these assessments they need to be able to engage patients and establish an appropriate relationship whilst gathering information in a collaborative manner. They must have knowledge of mental health disorders and the evidence-based therapeutic options available and be able to communicate this knowledge in a clear and unambiguous way so that people can make informed treatment choices. In addition, they must have knowledge of behaviour change models and how these can inform choice of goals and interventions. This module will, therefore, equip PWPs with a good understanding of the incidence, prevalence and presentation of common mental health problems and evidenced-based treatment choices. Skills teaching will develop PWPs’ core ‘common factors’ competencies of active listening, engagement, alliance building, patient-centred information gathering, information giving and shared decision making. Cultural competence for Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners will aim to develop trainees’ ability to recognise their own reaction to people who are perceived to be different and values and beliefs about the issue of difference, so as to be able to work effectively with them.

Outline Syllabus:Concepts of mental health and mental disorders. Patient centred interviewing and assessment including screening and triage assessment within an IAPT service. Information gathering to include - Provisional diagnostic assessment; mental health clustering assessment; psychometric assessment (using the IAPT standardised symptoms measures); problem focused assessment; and intervention planning assessment. Therapeutic relationship building to include:-core ‘common factors’ competencies of active listening, engagement, alliance building, patient-centred information gathering, information giving and shared decision making. Assessing for and managing risk. Problem statements. Setting goals. Documentation and recording of information. Clinical case management and clinical Supervision. Introduction to low intensity interventions - evidence based psychological interventions and medication management. incidence, prevalence and presentation of common mental health problems. Evidence based treatment choices.

Additional Information:The Assessment is compromised of: 1) Scenario based summative assessment – engaging with and assessing a patient (none mark bearing) 2) Essay ( mark bearing 100%) 3) Portfolio/ PSAD ( none marking bearing) None mark bearing elements are Pass/Fail Practice Competency. The pass threshold for competency assessments is 50%'. All assessments must be passed independently. The training programme requires trainees to learn from observation and skills practice under supervision while working in fully functioning IAPT services, as well as through the theoretical teaching, skills practice and practice-based learning directed by the Higher Education Institute. Trainees should complete a minimum of 80 clinical contact hours with patients (face-to-face or on the telephone) within an IAPT service as a requirement of their training and should undertake a minimum of 40 hours of supervision of which at least 20 hours should be case management supervision and at least 20 hours should be clinical skills supervision. These 80 clinical contact hours and 40 supervision hours are in addition to the 15-20 practice-based learning days directed by education providers. These requirements will be identified in the Practice Placement Skills document (PSAD)