Changes in Mental Health Providers' Recovery Attitudes and Strengths Model Implementation Following Training and Supervision.

The strengths model (SM) is a recovery-oriented model of mental health care. Historically, training alone has been insufficient to ensure implementation of SM skills in practice. The aim of the current study was to determine whether improvements in recovery attitudes and attendance at Strength-Based Group Supervision (SBGS) following training are associated with greater skill implementation in practice. Mental health providers (N = 76) were trained in SM interventions and surveyed immediately before and after training and at a 6-month follow-up on various recovery attitude measures and SBGS attendance. Results showed that providers' attitudes were significantly improved after completing the training programs; however, only willingness to support consumers in positive goal-oriented risk taking remained significantly improved at 6-month follow-up. The frequency of attendance at SBGS sessions was low, and this may have contributed to a lack of consistent evidence that SBGS attendance was associated with sustained improvements in attitudes or SM skill implementation. Future research is needed to clarify the ability of public sector mental health organizations to successfully implement and sustain SM approaches in practice. The role of ongoing SBGS in this process also requires continued investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]