TeamSTEPPS in School Mental Health

University of Pennsylvania90 enrolled

Overview

Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) is an evidence-based approach for teams that can be adapted for school mental health. TeamSTEPPS has been widely disseminated in health care settings with promising outcomes. TeamSTEPPS is designed to build competencies in the areas of leadership, situation monitoring, mutual support, and communication and has been associated with improvements in teamwork and communication as well as patient outcomes, such as decreased seclusion in psychiatric hospitals. This approach has yet to be extended as an implementation strategy in school or community mental health teams. If an evidence-based team approach like TeamSTEPPS can be successfully applied to school mental health teams, it could provide a cost-effective strategy for improving student mental health services and bolstering existing EBP implementation efforts, which to date generally have been insufficient in producing long-term clinician behavior change. In Aim 1 the investigators will capture key stakeholder perspectives about challenges in collocated school mental health services through formative work to inform collaborative planning and capacity building activities in Aim 2. Then, in Aim 2 the investigators will identify inter-organizational challenges and required components of TeamSTEPPS to adapt. The investigators will establish an advisory board and adapt TeamSTEPPS. The product of Aim 2 will be an adapted TeamSTEPPS, directed toward both school mental health and school-employed personnel, and specific, tailored implementation strategies to improve services in schools in conjunction with TeamSTEPPS. Finally, In Aim 3 the investigators will explore the feasibility, acceptability, and utility of TeamSTEPPS and the strategies generated in Aim 2 on inter-professional collaboration, teamwork, and student outcomes in eight schools.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Interventions

TeamSTEPPSBEHAVIORAL

TeamSTEPPS is an evidence-based approach for teams that can be adapted for school mental health. Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS), has been widely disseminated in health care settings with promising outcomes. TeamSTEPPS is designed to build competencies in the areas of leadership, situation monitoring, mutual support, and communication and has been associated with improvements in teamwork and communication as well as patient outcomes, such as decreased seclusion in psychiatric hospitals.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 100 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Must be one of the following: mental health providers, teachers, leaders from schools (e.g., principals), leaders from community mental health agencies (i.e., executive directors, clinical supervisors), and leadership personnel from the payer or partner school district. Exclusion Criteria: * There are no exclusion criteria proposed for school and agency-employed personnel. Participants will not be excluded given their gender, demographics, and/or past experience.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM)

Reliable and validated 4-item tool to assess perceptions of the feasibility of an intervention (in this case, TeamSTEPPS training). Each item may be scored 1 = "completely disagree", 2 = "disagree", 3 = "neither agree nor disagree", 4 = "agree", or 5 = "completely agree." An overall mean score (possible score range from 1 to 5) across the 4 items is computed, where higher scores indicate more positive perceptions of intervention feasibility.

Time frame: assessed immediately post-training in TeamSTEPPS (on average, 4 hours after completion of baseline measures)

Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM)

Reliable and validated 4-item observational tool to assess perceptions of the acceptability of an intervention (in this case, TeamSTEPPS training). Each item may be scored 1 = "completely disagree", 2 = "disagree", 3 = "neither agree nor disagree", 4 = "agree", or 5 = "completely agree." An overall mean score (possible score range from 1 to 5) across the 4 items is computed, where higher scores indicate greater perceptions of intervention acceptability.

Time frame: assessed immediately post-training in TeamSTEPPS (on average, 4 hours after completion of baseline measures)

Secondary Outcomes

Oxford Non-Technical Skills (NOTECHS) Scale

Validated 4-item observational tool to assess teamwork and cognitive skills in teams. Items reflect team skills in leadership and management; teamwork and cooperation; problem-solving and decision making; and situational awareness. An observer codes team behavior in each domain using 3-5 items rated from 1 (Below Standard) to 4 (Excellent). An overall mean score, ranging from 1 to 4, is computed across items, where higher scores indicate stronger teamwork skills.

Time frame: Assessed at baseline (i.e., on average, 1 week prior to training in TeamSTEPPS), immediately post-training in TeamSTEPPS (on average, 1 week after completion of baseline observation), and at 6- and 12-month follow-ups.