Abstract

The Care Programme Approach (CPA) is the fundamental framework for supporting the care and treatment of individuals with severe and complex mental health needs. National consultations with stakeholders (Department of Health, 2006) identified a lack of consistency in the implementation of the CPA across England, informed fresh guidance (Department of Health, 2008a) and highlighted the need for a valid and flexible training initiative to support the workforce in this important aspect of their practice. In response, a partnership team was commissioned by the Department of Health to design and disseminate such a learning resource. This paper details the first impressions of this resource from those who requested the materials and subsequently responded with an online evaluation questionnaire (n=27). These early responses demonstrate that the CPA learning resource is viewed by respondents as flexible, easy-to-use and comprehensive. In addition, DVD narratives of professionals, service users and carers’ experiences of CPA in adult mental health services were identified as valuable elements of the resource as they assist trainers in the illustration of critical themes. Further results explore its utility in the training environment and highlight flexibility of delivery as an important feature. This enables the resource to be integrated with existing training materials or to guide the development of new training initiatives. As further evaluations are collected and analysed, they will feed into a process of incremental improvement of the learning package to ensure that it meets the requirements of the multidisciplinary workforce.