Abstract

Although the importance of providing psychosocial
interventions (PSI) for people suffering with psychosis
has now been recognised at a national level,
implementation of evidence based practice remains
inconsistent and patchy, relying on local priorities,
expertise and resources. The National Institute for
Mental Health in England (NIMHE) provides an ideal
opportunity to develop a coherent, strategic approach
to facilitate implementation of PSI in local services.
A National PSI Implementation Group has therefore
been established with NIMHE that aims to increase the
availability of evidence-based approaches for psychosis
in routine practice, addressing obstacles that can
hinder successful implementation.
Appropriate training, although merely one of a number
of issues to consider when implementing evidence and
values based practice, remains absolutely fundamental
to any strategy. PSI training has been developed to
meet local need and aims to be responsive to both
advances in the evidence-base and in national mental
health policy. From the origins of the two Thorn
Training programmes that were set up in 1992 there
are now at least 80 PSI training programmes in
England, ranging from short introductory courses,
through to diploma and MSc level programmes
(Brooker, 2001). These programmes provide the skills
and knowledge required to implement the holistic
approach to care that is promoted by the Department
of Health’s National Service Framework for Mental
Health (1999) and the associated Policy
Implementation Guidance An additional aspect of
many advanced PSI courses is that they seek to ensure
that skills taught are actually implemented in clinical
practice. Therefore, unlike other training or academic
programmes, strong links are established prior to,
during and post-training with clinical supervisors,
service leaders and managers. These programmes are
also quite unique in that there is active collaboration
with service users and carers in both curriculum
development and teaching activities.
The NIMHE PSI Implementation group have
commissioned the current review to gain a better
understanding of what the evidence base is for PSI
training, to compare training programmes with similar
content, to review what outcomes have been evaluated
and to summarise the findings. With this knowledge
the group hopes to be able to provide advice to
training providers, researchers and commissioners that
is both objective and informed.