How mental health and developmental disabilities staff prioritize training and development needs

Abstract

This paper contrasts a staff training needs assessment distributed to three groups: staff serving persons with mental health needs in the community, staff serving persons with mental health needs in state hospitals, and staff serving persons with developmental disabilities in the community. Analyses revealed that all three groups rated team-related training as the area in greatest need of development. Further analyses suggested that community staff serving persons with developmental disabilities reported significantly less need for training on direct client care compared to community and inpatient staff who serve persons with mental health needs. The community staff serving persons with mental health needs did not differ significantly from the inpatient staff on any of the surveyed training areas. Results suggest that future development efforts should begin with team building skills.