College of Recovery and Community Inclusion (CRCI)

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College of Recovery and Community Inclusion (CRCI)

The College of Recovery and Community Inclusion, a DirectCourse curriculum, is a unique professional training option that helps organizations educate and align their staff around these key approaches. Staff members will be able to support each person in a way that respects their experiences, culture, and personal version of recovery. Content in this curriculum was developed in collaboration with the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion for Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities. It is maintained by the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota.

Cultural Competence in Mental Health Service Settings

The Effective Use of Documentation

Introduction to Mental Health Recovery and Wellness

Mental Health Treatments, Services, and Supports

Professionalism and the Community Mental Health Practitioner

Seeing the Person First: Understanding Mental Health Conditions

Trauma Matters: Understanding Trauma and Its Impact

Understanding Community Inclusion

Understanding the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Universal Precautions and Infection Control

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Cultural Competence in Mental Health Service Settings

Effective community mental health practitioners who value diversity must continually improve their ability to understand, work with, and accommodate individuals with mental health conditions from many different cultural backgrounds. This course provides an introduction to the concept of cultural competence, discusses the importance of cultural competence in the delivery of mental health services and supports, and helps the learner to develop the attitudes, knowledge, and skills needed to work in a culturally competent manner. The course begins with lessons that highlight the ways in which the delivery of mental health services must take into account the cultural background and preferences of each person receiving supports and services, then defines common terms that are used in discussions of multicultural awareness, and also reviews the ways in which each individual's cultural background shapes their thoughts, preferences, and everyday behaviours, as well as their responsiveness to mental health supports and services. The course then assists the learner in gaining a more profound understanding of these issues by asking each learner to reflect upon their own cultural background and its impact on their own lives. The next lessons focus on the impact of bias and discrimination of all kinds and their impact on the service recipient, as well as the bias and discrimination within service provider organization. The course ends with a discussion of the role of the community mental health practitioner in promoting changes in practices, programs, and policies that help to promote greater cultural competence in the delivery of community mental health care.

CE Credits:

0.8

Contact Hours:

8.2

Total Lessons:

Lesson 1: An Introduction to Cultural Competence for Community Mental Health Practitioners (Contact Hours: 0.6)

This lesson reviews the importance of cultural competence in the delivery of community mental health care, and its impact on the relationship that develops between the community mental health practitioner and the service recipient.

Lesson 2: Responsible Practice for the Community Mental Health Practitioner (Contact Hours: 0.7)

In this lesson, the emphasis is on describing in greater detail the ways in which the community mental health practitioner can effectively respond to service recipients in a more culturally competent manner.

Lesson 3: Defining Race, Ethnicity, Heritage, and Ancestry (Contact Hours: 0.7)

Key terms used when talking about cultural competence are discussed in this lesson, with an emphasis on ‘race,' ‘ethnicity,' ‘heritage,' and ‘ancestry', drawing distinctions between terms that are often, and erroneously, used interchangeably.

Lesson 4: Defining Culture and Its Effects (Contact Hours: 0.7)

In this lesson the learner is exposed to a variety of cultural variations with the United States, as part of a general discussion about how values, modes of expression, behaviors, and responsiveness to care are often a product of individual cultural styles.

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Lesson 5: Cultural Differences in Communication (Contact Hours: 0.6)

Cultural differences in communication – in speaking styles, in the use of language, in the open expression or careful monitoring of emotions, and in the use of specific words – vary from culture to culture.

Lesson 6: Understanding Diversity (Contact Hours: 0.8)

This lesson provides a more in-depth discussion of the diversity inherent in any community mental health setting, and the importance attached to community mental health practitioner capacity to recognize and respond to that diversity.

Lesson 7: Understanding Your Own Culture (Contact Hours: 0.7)

This lesson begins the process of asking learners to think about their own cultural backgrounds and the ways in which their family, neighborhood, and national ‘cultures' have had an impact on their own worldviews.

Lesson 8: Your Family and Cultural Roots (Contact Hours: 0.6)

Learners are asked, in this lesson, to look more deeply into the cultural basis of their own behaviors and beliefs, and to identify how this process impacts the values and perspectives of the individuals they serve.

Lesson 9: Multiple Cultural Identities and Your Adult Life (Contact Hours: 0.7)

Because a multi-cultural nation like our own offers individuals the opportunity to both value and adopt the values of cultures other than their own family's worldview, this lesson discusses multiple cultural identities in the learner's and service recipient's life.

Lesson 10: Bias and Discrimination (Contact Hours: 0.7)

Despite a growing national recognition of the value of diversity, many individuals, from a wide range of minority identities, still face bias and discrimination: this lesson provides an introduction to the issues raised by continuing bias and discrimination.

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Lesson 11: Organizational Structure and the Service Participant (Contact Hours: 0.7)

Each service delivery agency has a ‘culture' of its own, often one that reflects mainstream values and worldviews: this lesson provides an introduction to this and suggests strategies for grappling with the tension between recipient and agency values.

Lesson 12: Promoting Cultural Competence through Change (Contact Hours: 0.7)

The final lesson in the course on cultural competence suggests a variety of strategies that community mental health practitioners can use to promote changes in how they work and the programs/policies of their agencies that move toward greater cultural competence.

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The Effective Use of Documentation

This course focuses on effective documentation for the community mental health practitioner (CMHP). It will cover a number of important topics in this area. It will cover the two important concepts of recovery and community inclusion and how documentation can help to support these. It will cover how to use empowering language when documenting. It will define documentation and its primary purpose. It will address how documentation can help CMHPs to provide consistent support. It also provides a list of additional reasons why documentation is important. The lesson provides information on medical and health related documentation as well as an overview of the individual recovery plan. It provides information on incident and accident documentation and also staff communication logs. It covers mental health crisis documentation, objective and subjective documentation, and basic rules and guidelines for documentation. It also defines confidentiality and rights to privacy and decision makers. Finally, this lesson will address how to secure the Release of Information form.

CE Credits:

0.6

Contact Hours:

6.2

Total Lessons:

Lesson 1: Documentation for the Community Mental Health Practitioner (Contact Hours: 0.4)

Writing individual progress notes and completing other types of documentation are important responsibilities. This lesson will help you to identify two core concepts important to recovery and community inclusion. It will also explain how these inform documentation practices for the community mental health practitioner (CMHP).

Lesson 2: The Language of Empowerment (Contact Hours: 0.3)

Words have meaning. They often shape our thinking. They can influence our attitudes and how we see other people. This lesson is about using documentation language that empowers individuals in their lives. It discusses the use of person first language in documentation. You will learn how important words and language are to respectful documentation.

Lesson 3: Defining Documentation (Contact Hours: 0.5)

Documentation is a critical part of community mental health work. You will also learn that the primary purpose of documentation is to communicate information. Finally, you will learn some important reasons for documentation.

Lesson 4: Documenting Consistency of Support (Contact Hours: 0.5)

As a community mental health practitioner, you will be asked to complete and read documentation about many aspects of a person's life. This lesson will help you understand the role of documentation in helping you and others provide consistent support and care in these areas to people being supported.

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Lesson 5: Additional Reasons for Documentation (Contact Hours: 0.5)

There are many reasons for documentation. In earlier lessons you were introduced to a few of these. This lesson covers the remaining reasons you, as a community mental health practitioner, should document information. You will learn how documentation helps you identify changes in care and supports. This lesson also covers how documentation helps providers to comply with rules, regulations, and agency policy. Finally the lesson touches on how documentation is used to help you stay connected with coworkers and supervisors.

Lesson 6: Medical and Health Related Documentation in Mental Health Settings (Contact Hours: 0.4)

Good health is important in everyone's life. As a community mental health practitioner, you need to encourage good health for the people you support. One way to do this is through the

completion of medical documentation. In this lesson you will be introduced to medical and health related documentation forms.

Lesson 7: Individual Recovery Plan Documentation (Contact Hours: 0.4)

The documentation related to a person's personal goals is recorded on the Individual Recovery Plan. This type of documentation is an excellent source of information that allows community mental health practitioners (CMHPs) to support people in the community activities that they most want to focus on. This lesson is about the documenting of personal goals on the Individual Recovery Plan.

Lesson 8: Incident and Accident Documentation in Mental Health Settings (Contact Hours: 0.3)

Accidents and incidents do happen on the job. This lesson will review accident and incident documentation. You will learn what information is needed on an accident and incidents report form.

Lesson 9: Staff Communication Logs in Mental Health Settings (Contact Hours: 0.3)

Communication on the job is important. You need to be able to communicate with other staff across different shifts and different work days. This helps work places run smoothly. A staff communication log is at the hub of daily staff communications in most group residential programs. This lesson is about staff communication logs. The lesson explains what staff communications logs are and how they are used to communicate important information.

Lesson 10: Mental Health Crisis Documentation (Contact Hours: 0.4)

As a community mental health practitioner there may be times when you have to document information related to someone's mental health crisis. This is an important responsibility. This lesson will help you understand mental health crisis documentation. You will learn what it is and why it is an important part of the support

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you provide. You will also learn about some wellness and recovery tools and how these are used.

Lesson 11: Objective and Subjective Documentation (Contact Hours: 0.4)

Documentation is an important part of your role as a community mental health practitioner (CMHP). In this lesson you will learn the difference between objective and subjective documentation. You will learn how to write clearly and concisely using the four parts of objective documentation.

Lesson 12: Basic Rules and Guidelines for Documentation (Contact Hours: 0.5)

This lesson covers some of the basic rules and guidelines every community mental health practitioner needs to follow when completing documentation entries. You will learn about the rules that cover any type of documentation whether it is formal, informal, hand written, or electronic. The lesson also discusses rules that

are specific to hand written documentation.

Lesson 13: Defining Confidentiality (Contact Hours: 0.4)

As a community mental health practitioner (CMHP) you will have access to documents and you will be completing documents that contain private information regarding the people with whom you work. You will need it to do your job effectively. You also need to protect the person's right to privacy. This lesson will help you understand this important responsibility. You will learn about confidentiality and why this is important to your everyday practice.

Lesson 14: Rights to Privacy and Decision Makers (Contact Hours: 0.5)

This lesson explains a person's rights to privacy. It also identifies some common substitute decision makers, that is, other persons who are authorized to make decisions for the individual who would also have access to a person's confidential information.

Lesson 15: Securing the Release of Information Form (Contact Hours: 0.4)

This lesson will help you understand what information is needed in order to secure a proper release of information form from a person being supported. You will learn what information should be included on an authorization form. You will also learn about appropriate ways to request information from the person or his or her legal guardian.

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Introduction to Mental Health Recovery and Wellness

Recovery has increasingly become the clarion call in the mental health system both in terms of expected outcomes for individuals living with mental health conditions and in terms of systems transformation. This course reviews three key influences in the field that impacted systems transformation and explores multiple perspectives on recovery found in the literature. The course reviews the ten Guiding Principles of Recovery as identified by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Recovery Support Strategic Initiative. The course reports critical data that individuals who are served by the public mental health system are dying from preventable chronic health conditions 20 to 25 years earlier than their counterparts without mental health conditions. Incorporating a focus on wellness is gaining increasing momentum in contemporary mental health practice and this course introduces the learner to the eight dimensions of wellness as set out in SAMHSA's Wellness Initiative.

Seeking a balance across the eight dimensions of wellness can promote and support physical health as well as mental health recovery and the course provides a wellness assessment tool that can be utilized to help develop and support wellness goals. The course introduces a number of shifts in thinking about program planning and service delivery practices that place the person in recovery at the center of the treatment and rehabilitation decision making process. Finally, the course explores the role of the community mental health practitioner in supporting the development of recovery and wellness goals. It offers suggestions for community mental health practitioners to advocate for and help individuals' access necessary and competent medical care, as well as develop self‐care skills to prevent or manage health and lifestyle concerns. The course identifies strategies that community mental health practitioners can implement to work collaboratively with individuals served as they pursue their recovery journey and work toward the achievement of identified recovery and wellness goals.

CE Credits:

0.5

Contact Hours:

4.5

Total Lessons:

Lesson 1: Mental Health Recovery: Why Now? (Contact Hours: 0.5)

The system of mental health care that existed in the United States for most of the twentieth century was based on the belief that people with mental health conditions do not recover. In fact, it was believed that people would likely get worse over time. The system developed to ensure that maintenance and ongoing care of people with mental health conditions would be the goal. The call for recovery, or “transformation,” in the mental health system has its roots in the research on the

long-term course of mental health conditions, the ex-patient/consumer/survivor movement, and the development of the field of psychiatric rehabilitation. This lesson will review the ways that these three influences challenged the prevailing belief that dominated twentieth-century mental health practices in the United States.

Lesson 2: Defining Recovery in Mental Health (Contact Hours: 0.5)

Recovery has increasingly become the clarion call in the mental health system both in terms of expected outcomes for individuals living with mental health conditions and in terms of systems transformation. This lesson will explore two differing yet complementary concepts of recovery. It will present multiple perspectives on recovery found in the first person recovery narratives in the literature. Additionally, it will explore the role of the community mental health practitioner in supporting individuals as they pursue their own journeys of recovery.

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Lesson 3: The Guiding Principles of Recovery: Part 1 (Contact Hours: 0.5)

There are many pathways to mental health recovery and each person in recovery must be empowered to self-direct their own recovery process. This lesson will review five of ten guiding principles of recovery identified by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Recovery Support Strategic Initiative.

Lesson 4: The Guiding Principles of Recovery: Part 2 (Contact Hours: 0.5)

There are many pathways and principles to guide mental health recovery. It is important that each person in recovery be empowered to self-direct their own recovery journey. This lesson will review the remaining five of the ten guiding principles of recovery as identified by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Recovery Support Strategic Initiative.

Lesson 5: Mental Health Recovery and Wellness (Contact Hours: 0.5)

Research indicates that individuals living with mental health conditions who are served by the public mental health system die earlier in life than their counterparts without mental health conditions. Recent data suggests that individuals are dying about twenty-five years earlier and are dying from preventable, chronic health conditions. This lesson reviews critical information regarding this health disparity. It offers suggestions for community mental health practitioners to advocate for and help individuals access necessary and competent medical care, as well as develop self-care skills to prevent or manage health and lifestyle concerns.

Lesson 6: The Eight Dimensions of Wellness: Part 1 (Contact Hours: 0.5)

The notion of wellness for mental health practice added a holistic focus to the recovery vision. Just as Pat Deegan and Bill Anthony brought

recovery into the forefront of mental health practice, Peggy Swarbrick and Mary Ellen Copeland introduced wellness in the late 1990s. Incorporating a focus on wellness is gaining increasing momentum in contemporary mental health practice. This lesson will begin to introduce you to the eight dimensions of wellness as set out in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration's (SAMHSA) Wellness Initiative.

Lesson 7: The Eight Dimensions of Wellness: Part 2 (Contact Hours: 0.5)

The concept of wellness is a holistic way to support greater health and well-being across a number of areas in one's life. In this lesson we continue to explore the eight dimensions of wellness as set out in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration's (SAMHSA) Wellness Initiative.

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Lesson 8: Assessing, Developing, and Supporting Wellness Goals (Contact Hours: 0.5)

Wellness focuses our attention on positive health behaviors across a host of dimensions that enable people to move from their current state of health to a higher level of well-being and recovery. Seeking balance across the eight dimensions of wellness, as previously reviewed in this course, can promote and support mental health recovery. This lesson will introduce you to a wellness assessment tool that you can use to help develop and support wellness goals with the individuals that you serve.

Lesson 9: Creating a Culture of Recovery (Contact Hours: 0.5)

Mental health systems across the country continue to promote recovery as a desired outcome for all people living with mental health conditions. Within their program environments, community mental health organizations are

striving to create a culture of recovery. They are creating programs designed to support long-term recovery and are implementing practices that place the recovering person at the center of the treatment and rehabilitation decision-making process. Creating a culture of recovery within an organization or program requires a number of "shifts" in thinking about program planning and service delivery. This lesson will introduce you to a number of these important paradigm shifts.

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Mental Health Treatments, Services, and Supports

Treatment interventions are aimed at curing, eliminating, or reducing the symptoms and distress associated with the health condition being addressed. In this course we divide mental health treatment interventions into three groups: somatic treatments, crisis stabilization services, and rehabilitation interventions. This course first provides a brief historical overview of mental health treatment in the United States. It highlights the transition from institutional care to the development the community-based system that we have today. We then introduce the learner to the most widespread somatic treatment in mental health, the use of psychotropic medications. The course reviews commonly used hospital-based crisis stabilization service interventions, while also introducing newly emerging models of community-based and peer delivered crisis intervention and alternatives to hospitalization services. Ppsychiatric rehabilitation and its associated services and intervention models developed in concert with the transition from institutional based care to community based care. This course provides a brief introduction to psychiatric rehabilitation and the rehabilitation planning process. It then reviews a set of rehabilitation models that continue to be expanded and improved upon. These models offer some of the most promising and evidenced-based practices to support community inclusion and individual recovery goals that are utilized in community mental health programs.

CE Credits:

0.5

Contact Hours:

5.3

Total Lessons:

Lesson 1: A Brief History of Mental Health Treatment in the United States (Contact Hours: 0.7)

In the early part of the 20th century, mental health care in the United States for individuals living with mental health conditions was provided in large state run psychiatric institutions. By the 1950s, overcrowding, mistreatment, and substandard living conditions characterized life in these hospitals. In the

second half of the 20th century, mental health treatment began to move to a newly developing community mental health system. This lesson highlights important events that brought about the development of the community mental health system as we know it today.

Lesson 2: Medications (Contact Hours: 0.7)

Treatment interventions are aimed at curing, eliminating, or reducing the symptoms and

distress associated with the health condition being addressed. This lesson provides an introduction to the most widespread somatic treatment in mental health, pharmacology, that is to say, the use of psychotropic medications.

Lesson 3: Hospitalization and Psychiatric Emergency Services (Contact Hours: 0.7)

This lesson will review the most commonly used crisis stabilization service interventions for individuals living with mental health conditions. Additionally, it will introduce newly emerging models of community-based and peer delivered crisis intervention and alternatives to hospitalization services.

Lesson 4: Rehabilitation Planning (Contact Hours: 0.6)

Deinstitutionalization in mental health policy in the United States brought with it challenges in providing comprehensive services and supports for individuals discharged from long-term stays

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in state psychiatric institutions. Psychiatric rehabilitation and its associated models and interventions have their origins in this era. This lesson provides an introduction to psychiatric rehabilitation and rehabilitation planning.

Lesson 5: Rehabilitation Interventions Part 1 (Contact Hours: 0.6)

You learned in a previous lesson that psychiatric rehabilitation and its associated services and intervention models developed in concert with the transition from institutional based care to community based care. These rehabilitation models continue to be expanded and improved upon and offer some of the most promising and evidenced-based practices to support community inclusion and individual recovery goals that are utilized in community mental health programs. This lesson will introduce five different intervention models to support people's living, learning, working, and socialization goals.

Lesson 6: Rehabilitation Interventions Part 2 (Contact Hours: 0.6)

In this lesson we continue to review rehabilitation interventions designed to support people's individual recovery and community inclusion goals. Additionally, we introduce the recovery-oriented concepts of self-direction and self-directed care.

Lesson 7: Peer Support and Peer Run Service Programs (Contact Hours: 0.7)

This lesson will briefly discuss the emergence and importance of the self-help movement in many areas of social services. It will also discuss the social and political influences that spawned the development of peer support in the field of mental health. Additionally we will explore the development and expansion of peer run services, also described as consumer operated services, as an effective alternative and compliment to traditional mental health treatment.

Lesson 8: Recovery and Community Inclusion (Contact Hours: 0.7)

Recovery as an expectation in the mental health field is a relatively recent phenomenon. The focus on recovery as a realistic outcome in mental health services has begun to change the way these services are delivered. Equally new to the scene is the concept of community inclusion. Community inclusion includes the premise that individuals living with mental health conditions have the right to live in the community and participate in valued adult roles of their choice. This lesson will briefly introduce the core concepts of recovery and community inclusion.

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Professionalism and the Community Mental Health Practitioner

This course provides community mental health practitioners with a series of guidelines for conducting themselves in a professional manner on-the-job. The course discusses the importance of professional behavior and its impact on participants receiving services, the agency delivering services, and the career aspirations of the practitioner. After identifying 7 core aspects of professional behavior, each lesson reviews in detail one of each of the competencies. The course focuses on the need to place a priority on the needs of program participants, placing their needs first in a variety of circumstances. It discusses how critical it is to meet basic professional standards of behavior - being on time, dressing appropriately, developing a professional demeanor, etc. It explores the most effective strategies for establishing and maintaining respectful relationships at work with participants, colleagues, supervisors, and community members. The course reviews the importance of confidentiality, addresses the issues surrounding ethical on-the-job behavior, and reviews both various ethical standards and ethical decision making processes. It reviews the need for practitioners to commit to ongoing professional development, using both media and interpersonal connections to stay current on 'best practices' and emerging trends in the community mental health field. Finally, the course provides guidance to help practitioners maintain their own health, in both on-the-job and off-the-job settings and with regard to both physical and emotional well-being.

CE Credits:

0.4

Contact Hours:

3.8

Total Lessons:

Lesson 1: The Importance of Professional Conduct (Contact Hours: 0.5)

Conducting your work in a professional manner is a very important part of your job. This lesson reviews the importance of professional conduct and explores the kinds of problems that can emerge when you work in an unprofessional manner. It identifies seven core competencies for professional conduct in the mental health setting. It identifies the rewards of conducting yourself at work in ways that meet high personal and professional standards.

Lesson 2: Focusing on Program Participants (Contact Hours: 0.5)

One of the most important aspects of professional conduct is the degree to which you focus your work as a community mental health practitioner on the needs of program participants. This lesson discusses the variety of ways your day-to-day on-the-job conduct reflects your priorities.

Lesson 3: Meeting Professional Standards (Contact Hours: 0.5)

This lesson reviews ten basic competencies that are at the heart of professional conduct. These competencies are critically important to meeting the expectations of both your current employer and the participants with whom you interact day-to-day. Maintaining professional standards is a way to communicate your respect to program participants, contribute to the effective operation of your agency, and enhance your own career. Skilfully demonstrating these competencies will not only make you a better employee at any job but also make you a more professional practitioner in the community mental health field.

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Lesson 4: Sustaining Effective Relationships (Contact Hours: 0.5)

This lesson discusses the importance of maintaining effective relationships with the wide range of people with whom you interact at work. Many people, including program participants and their family members, your supervisors and colleagues, staff in other human service agencies, and members of the community all rely on you to be professional in fulfilling your role as a community mental health practitioner.

Lesson 5: Respecting Privacy and Confidentiality (Contact Hours: 0.5)

This lesson focuses on respecting and protecting the rights to privacy of the program participants with whom you work. Additionally, it will help you to maintain the confidentiality of the information that program participant's share with you. Respecting privacy and maintaining confidentiality are important components of professional conduct in the field of community mental health.

Lesson 6: Behaving Ethically (Contact Hours: 0.5)

Community mental health practitioners are expected to behave ethically. Your employer will require you to apply specific ethical standards that have been developed to govern professional conduct for those in the human services. In this lesson, you will learn about the importance of behaving ethically, the types of ethical challenges you may face in your job, and a process for resolving ethical questions as they emerge in your work.

Lesson 7: Increasing Your Knowledge & Improving Your Skills (Contact Hours: 0.4)

This lesson explores the responsibility a community mental health practitioner has as a professional in the community mental health field to expand both his or her knowledge and skills for providing supports and services to individuals with mental health conditions. The more the practitioner knows the more the

practitioner can do. Continually working to increase knowledge and skills helps the community mental health practitioner be more valuable to the individuals supported.

Lesson 8: Taking Care of Yourself (Contact Hours: 0.4)

Taking care of your physical and emotional health is important to your professional development. This lesson explores why maintaining a healthy balance is so important, and reviews a number of strategies that you can use both on-the-job and in your personal life to support your efforts to be an effective community mental health practitioner.

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Seeing the Person First: Understanding Mental Health Conditions

People who experience mental health issues are able to live satisfying and meaningful lives in the community like everyone else. This course will help the learner to gain a basic understanding of mental health conditions, including the fundamental principle that people living with mental health conditions are first and foremost people who want to live full lives. It is founded on a recovery and community inclusion approach in which one's mental health condition is viewed as only one part of an individual's life. It is designed to help you understand that each person with a mental health condition has his or her own individual hopes, dreams, and desires for their lives. It will help you recognize and build upon the strengths and preferences of the people you serve to better support recovery. It introduces a new way to look at health and functioning that will broaden your view of the individuals with whom you work. It will help you identify the importance of community inclusion and participation in the lives of individuals living with mental health conditions. It introduces you to the symptoms and diagnoses that you will most likely come in contact with in your role as a community mental health practitioner. This course discusses a number of theories about the causes of mental health conditions. It also focuses on identifying and addressing the environmental barriers that limit community participation as individuals pursue recovery and community inclusion goals in their lives.

CE Credits:

0.4

Contact Hours:

3.6

Total Lessons:

Lesson 1: Seeing the Person First (Contact Hours: 0.4)

This lesson is designed to help you remember that people living with mental health conditions are first and foremost people who want to live full lives. It is founded on recovery and community inclusion principles that view mental health conditions as only one part of an individual's life.

Lesson 2: Acknowledging Individual Hopes, Dreams, and Desires (Contact Hours: 0.4)

This lesson is designed to help you recognize the individual hopes, dreams, and desires for each person you serve. When community mental health practitioners recognize and build upon the strengths and preferences of the people they serve they can better support the individual's recovery. It will increase people's motivation to lead a full life of activity and participation in the community.

Lesson 3: Participating in Community Life (Contact Hours: 0.4)

This lesson is designed to help you identify the importance of community participation and inclusion in the lives of individuals living with mental health conditions. You will hear personal stories of recovery and inclusion throughout the lesson and reflect on the experiences described.

Lesson 4: New Ways of Understanding Health and Functioning (Contact Hours: 0.5)

New models of health and wellness have much to offer to our understanding of how mental health conditions impact people's functioning in a number of important areas in their lives. In this lesson you will be introduced to a new way to look at health and functioning that will broaden your view of the individuals with whom you work and increase your knowledge of how best to suggest and develop intervention strategies to support individual recovery and community inclusion goals.

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Lesson 5: Mental Health Conditions: Understanding Symptoms and Diagnoses (Contact Hours: 0.5)

The current mental health system relies on the language of symptoms and diagnoses found within the classification system of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. This lesson introduces you to the symptoms and diagnoses that you will most likely come in contact with in your role as a community mental health practitioner.

Lesson 6: Understanding the Causes of Mental Health Conditions (Contact Hours: 0.5)

There have been many theories generated about the causes of mental health conditions. This lesson will introduce you to theories that have been discredited over the years as well as contemporary theories driving research and community mental health practice today. This lesson will also discuss strategies for interventions to support recovery and community inclusion goals that address the causes of mental health conditions.

Lesson 7: Supporting Activity for Individuals Living with Mental Health Conditions (Contact Hours: 0.5)

The skills and capacities that an individual possesses and can perform positively impacts their participation in the community and the successful pursuit of recovery and community inclusion goals. Community mental health practitioners can play an important role in helping the individuals they serve to develop and enhance these skills and capacities.

Lesson 8: Promoting Participation for Individuals Living with Mental Health Conditions (Contact Hours: 0.4)

Today many more individuals living with mental health conditions live in the community rather than in the large psychiatric hospitals of old. While their presence in the community has increased, it is also true that their participation in the everyday life of the community is much less than those of others'. This lesson focuses

on recognizing that people living with mental health conditions can participate in the community even when they experience significant symptoms and activity limitations. It will also help to identify and address the restrictions that limit community participation as individuals pursue recovery and community inclusion goals in their lives.

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Trauma Matters: Understanding Trauma and Its Impact

The impact of trauma in the lives of individuals served in the behavioral health system is of increasing concern. This course will explore the many impacts of trauma on individuals served, those providing services, and the system of available community supports. We will explore how the difficult and often traumatic events of a person's past and sometimes current life situation can have a tremendous impact on their overall health and wellbeing. It will review the prevalence of trauma, especially among people who seek assistance from providers of mental health and substance abuse services. It will review the impact trauma can have on a person's world view, their overall health, how they perceive themselves, engage with others and function in society. It will introduce the learner to the necessary practice shifts in a trauma-informed care organization to better assist those who are on this healing journey. The course will discuss how traumatic experiences impact the brain and an individual's ability to learn, regulate emotion and form healthy relationships. It will discuss how people with trauma histories experience behavioral health and substance abuse services. This course will focus on the factors that increase someone's ability to be resilient and the idea that resilience can be learned. We will define and review trauma-informed care approaches as well as explore a number of trauma-specific interventions. The course will introduce the learner to the Seven Domains of Trauma-Informed Care developed by the National Council for Behavioral Health that focuses on ensuring an entire organization meets the needs of those who have experienced trauma and partners effectively with them in their healing journey. Additionally, we will look at how trauma impacts the people who work in behavioral health and community serving organizations. And finally, we will explore the qualities trauma survivors have or develop to help them heal and review how trauma-informed approaches support the development of these qualities.

CE Credits:

0.9

Contact Hours:

9.1

Total Lessons:

Lesson 1: What is Trauma? (Contact Hours: 0.9)

The difficult and often traumatic events of a person's past and sometimes current life situation can have a tremendous impact on their overall health and wellbeing. This includes how they see themselves, engage with others,

function in society and present in treatment and support services. Recovery and healing from trauma is possible and it is critical for human services workers to understand the scope and impact of trauma. This lesson explores the definition of trauma and the many types of events that one might experience as traumatic.

Lesson 2: The Prevalence of Trauma (Contact Hours: 0.7)

Difficult and often traumatic events are common in our human experience. This lesson explores the prevalence of trauma, especially among people who seek assistance from providers of mental health and substance abuse services. This lesson also introduces how this prevalence drives the urgency for our services to be trauma-informed.

Lesson 3: The Impacts of Trauma (Contact Hours: 0.8)

This lesson provides history and context for mental illness. Past and future treatments of individuals living with mental illness will be covered. Learners will gain more in depth information on signs and symptoms of various mental illnesses. They will learn about a range of different treatment options and how to access them.

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Lesson 4: Perspective and Practice Shift (Contact Hours: 0.7)

Our understanding of trauma requires us to understand an individual's journey and what happened to them. In this lesson we learn that we must perspective from seeing an individual with a weakness or illness to seeing an individual who has been impacted by trauma, survived trauma, and has inherent strength and heal. The lesson also introduces the learner to the necessary practice shifts in a trauma-informed care organization to better assist those who are on this healing journey.

Lesson 5: Trauma and the Brain (Contact Hours: 0.8)

Traumatic experiences can have a significant impact on how the brain develops. A brain impacted by trauma can effect an individual's ability to learn, regulate emotion and form healthy relationships. This can lead to negative coping strategies such as smoking, overeating

and alcohol abuse. However, the brain has the capacity to heal. When the trauma stops and is replaced by interventions that promote recovery and resilience, the brain can undo much of the damage and build new pathways for healing.

Lesson 6: Trauma and Its Effect on How People Experience Services (Contact Hours: 0.7)

Traumatic experiences impact a person in many different ways. One common outcome is that trauma survivors often view other people to be untrustworthy and situations to be unsafe. People who have experienced repeated danger and loss of control often find it difficult to trust others, ask for help or make use of services and resources. They can experience triggers and a range of reactions when they go to therapy or other services, which often impacts how they use these services.

Lesson 7: Trauma and Resilience (Contact Hours: 0.7)

We know that people who experience trauma can be affected in various and often difficult ways. Trauma can impact how someone views the world and themselves, and can lead to increased risk of poor health outcomes. People who experience trauma may suffer from ongoing fear and anxiety, and may develop PTSD, addictions or other mental health conditions. We also know that some people experience resilience in the wake of traumatic events, which helps them to move forward, and maintain healthy levels of psychological and physical functioning. This lesson will focus on the factors that increase someone's ability to be resilient and the idea that resilience can be learned.

Lesson 8: Trauma-informed Care Approaches (Contact Hours: 0.8)

In this lesson we will explore trauma-informed care approaches. Trauma-informed care

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approaches are organizational interventions that ensure an entire organization meets the needs of those who have experienced trauma. A trauma-informed care approach involves ensuring all policies, practices and procedures reflect traumainformed principles and all staff, from the CEO to the maintenance staff, are committed to behaving in a trauma-informed way.

Lesson 9: Trauma-specific Interventions (Contact Hours: 0.8)

We know that the high prevalence of trauma can significantly impact people in difficult ways. In this lesson we will explore what can we do to help people heal from their trauma histories. There are many interventions and approaches that organizations can use to help people heal from trauma. This lesson will introduce trauma-specific interventions that are designed to treat trauma-specific symptoms and disorders. It identifies the components of a trauma-specific intervention, the importance of embracing the voice of the person in recovery, the stages of

healing from trauma, and some trauma-specific interventions commonly used with adults and children.

Lesson 10: The Seven Domains of Trauma-Informed Care (Contact Hours: 0.9)

In this lesson we will explore the National Council for Behavioral Health's Seven Domains of Trauma-Informed Care. This model is a trauma-informed approach focused on ensuring an entire organization meets the needs of those who have experienced trauma and partners effectively with them in their healing journey. This lesson will explore the key components of each of the seven domains.

Lesson 11: Trauma Impacts the Workforce (Contact Hours: 0.7)

In this lesson we will explore how trauma impacts the people who work in behavioral health and community service organizations. We will discuss how helping professionals often

have their own histories of trauma. We will discuss the reality that many staff members also experience trauma as a result of doing the work. We will explore how organizations can respond to meet the needs of staff. Finally, we will review what staff can do to support their own wellness.

Lesson 12: Healing from Trauma is Possible (Contact Hours: 0.6)

In this lesson we will explore the reality that healing from trauma is possible. We will explore the qualities trauma survivors have or develop to help them heal. We will review how trauma-informed approaches support the development of these qualities.

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Understanding Community Inclusion

Promoting and supporting the community inclusion of individuals living with mental health conditions is increasingly becoming the focus of attention in mental health program planning. This course will introduce the learner to the terms community integration, community participation, and community inclusion. It will review their relationship to each other and more importantly, their implications for supporting mental health recovery. Historically, people living with mental health conditions have had limited opportunities to participate fully in community life. In many instances they have been systematically excluded from participation in several domains. This course will review the evidence documenting the exclusion that many individuals living with mental health conditions continue to experience in the community. However, despite this experience of exclusion, it is clear that people would, could, and should participate more fully in the communities of their choice. This course also presents the research base in support of the promotion of increased opportunities for community participation across a wide range of domains. This course then reviews how the principles of normalization and social role valorization, the Disability Rights Movement, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 all impact our current understanding of community inclusion and integration. It reviews the conceptual foundations of community inclusion and outlines 8 principles for practice. Finally, it presents a discussion on the potential challenges associated with the practice of community inclusion and integration in community mental health programming.

CE Credits:

0.3

Contact Hours:

3.2

Total Lessons:

Lesson 1: Defining Community Integration, Participation, and Inclusion (Contact Hours: 0.4)

The terms community integration, community participation, and community inclusion are connected and are important to understand as community mental health practitioners work to support each person's individual journey of recovery and increased participation in valued

social roles in the communities of their choice. In this lesson you will learn what each of these terms mean, why they are important, how they are related to each other, and their implications for supporting mental health recovery.

Lesson 2: The Evidence of Community Exclusion (Contact Hours: 0.4)

The concept of community integration has

generally been thought of in terms of greater physical presence in the community. However, the participation of individuals as full members of the community, where individuals have an increased sense of psychological and social belonging, has not received the attention it deserves. Historically, people living with mental health conditions have often had limited opportunities to participate fully in community life, across several important life domains. In many instances they have been excluded from participation. This lesson will review the evidence documenting the exclusion that many individuals living with mental health conditions continue to experience in the community.

Lesson 3: The Evidence for Community Participation (Contact Hours: 0.4)

Many individuals living with mental health conditions continue to be excluded from full participation in community life and there is much resistance to the idea of increasing opportunities to for individuals to participate more fully in the

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community. Indeed there are fears and concerns on the part of persons in recovery, family members, providers, and from community members as well. It is clear, however, that people would, could, and should participate more fully in their communities. Our beliefs as mental health practitioners can be a major barrier to community participation. This lesson will explore research studies that lend support to the importance of increasing opportunities for community participation, across a wide range of domains.

Lesson 4: The Historic, Legal, and Policy Foundations of Community Inclusion (Contact Hours: 0.4)

The concepts of community inclusion and integration have their origins in a number of important social movements, legal mandates, and public policy decisions. These include the “Normalization Movement” for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Wolf Wolfensberger's “social role valorization”

approach, the Disability Rights Movement, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. In this lesson you will learn how each of these influenced the legal and policy foundations of community inclusion and integration.

Lesson 5: Building a New Understanding of Community Inclusion (Contact Hours: 0.4)

There is an emerging new understanding of both mental health conditions and community inclusion and integration that is deeply rooted in the historic, legal, and policy foundations that we reviewed in Lesson 4. This new understanding includes a shift from seeing disability as entirely a problem with how an individual functions to what has been termed the social model of disability. It is also rooted in the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF). These two conceptual foundations are critical to understanding the practice of community inclusion and are the focus of this lesson.

Lesson 6: The Principles of Community Inclusion, Part 1 (Contact Hours: 0.4)

Putting community inclusion into practice requires a change from business-as-usual in the community mental health system. Community inclusion asks us to view people as a regular part of the community, not just as service recipients in our mental health programs. To truly promote community inclusion we must adopt strategies that allow us to help individuals identify and explore the valued social roles in which they want to participate. We must work to decrease and/ or eliminate the environmental barriers that inhibit their participation. We must provide supports to help people live in the communities of their choice and participate in the valued roles that enhance the meaning and purpose of their lives. This lesson presents the first three of six principles of community inclusion to help guide your work in putting community inclusion into practice.

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Lesson 7: The Principles of Community Inclusion, Part 2 (Contact Hours: 0.4)

As you learned in Lesson 6, putting community inclusion into practice requires a change from business-as-usual in the community mental health system. Community inclusion calls us to view the individuals that we serve as active participants of their community, not just as passive recipients of mental health services. This lesson presents the final three of six principles of community inclusion to help guide your work in putting community inclusion into practice.

Lesson 8: The Challenges of Community Inclusion (Contact Hours: 0.4)

Throughout this course, so far, we have been discussing the importance of promoting community inclusion for people with mental health conditions. However, if community mental

health practitioners want to put community inclusion into practice on a day-to-day basis, and for each individual they serve, they will face significant challenges. This lesson discusses four specific challenges that practitioners and the individuals they serve will face, and reviews a variety of strategies for responding to these challenges.

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Understanding the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

This course is an overview of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the most current changes to important rules of HIPAA. The course provides information regarding what is protected health information (PHI) under HIPAA. It also supports community mental health practitioners in understanding their role in protecting it. They will also learn what to do if there is a breach of PHI.

CE Credits:

0.1

Contact Hours:

1.2

Total Lessons:

Lesson 1 Introduction to HIPAA (Contact Hours: 0.4)

This lesson provides a brief overview of the current Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). It introduces basic

terms associated with HIPAA. It describes the important role that community mental health practitioners (CMHPs) play in protecting information. It helps them recognize protected health information (PHI). This lesson also introduces four rules essential to HIPAA. These rules are explored more fully in other lessons.

Lesson 2 The Privacy Rule and Security Rule (Contact Hours: 0.4)

This lesson provides a brief overview of the HIPAA Privacy Rule and the HIPAA Security Rule. It discusses how these rules impact the work of CMHPs. This lesson also provides the learner with important ways to protect the health

information of the people they support.

Lesson 3: The Breach Notification Rule and Enforcement Rule (Contact Hours: 0.4)

This lesson provides a brief overview of the HIPAA Breach Notification Rule and the HIPAA Enforcement Rule and discusses how these rules impact the work of CMHPs. This lesson also provides the learner with a final review of keeping PHI safe.

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Universal Precautions and Infection Control

This course is about Universal Precautions required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). It will teach direct support professionals about universal precautions and infection control. It will review OSHA blood borne pathogens requirements. It covers information on preventing and responding to exposure incidents. It will review information about communicable diseases and what can and should be done to prevent the spread of these diseases.

CE Credits:

0.2

Contact Hours:

2.2

Total Lessons:

Lesson 1: Aspects of Infectious Diseases (Contact Hours: 0.2)

This lesson will help you understand how diseases enter the body. You will learn about the four different types of germs. The lesson also covers ways the body is able to defend itself against diseases.

Lesson 2: Understanding the Infectious Disease Cycle (Contact Hours: 0.2)

This lesson will help you understand the infectious disease cycle. You will learn about the four stages of the cycle. You will also learn how disease causing organisms can infect the body with disease.

Lesson 3: Bloodborne Pathogens (Contact Hours: 0.2)

This lesson is about bloodborne pathogens. It will help you understand what they are and how they cause diseases in humans. You will learn about your roles and responsibilities in using universal precautions in the workplace.

Lesson 4: Infection Control and Prevention (Contact Hours: 0.2)

This lesson is about infection control procedures. It will help you understand how you can prevent the spreading of infectious agents. You will learn some easy strategies to prevent sickness and contamination in the workplace.

Lesson 5: Universal Precautions (Contact Hours: 0.2)

This lesson is about using universal precautions required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the federal government. You will learn what they are and how they are used to reduce exposure to common pathogens.

Lesson 6: Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (Contact Hours: 0.2)

This lesson is about personal protective equipment (PPE), which the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) require employers to identify and provide for workers. You will learn about different PPE and how to use these on the job.

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Lesson 7: Hand Washing Procedures (Contact Hours: 0.2)

Hand washing is the number one way to prevent the transmission of disease. In this lesson you will learn about the proper and thorough technique for washing your hands to prevent disease. You may want to share this information with the individuals to whom you provide services and supports.

Lesson 8: Cleaning and Disinfecting (Contact Hours: 0.2)

This lesson is about cleaning and disinfecting to help prevent disease and illness. You will learn how different surfaces and household textiles can be cleaned and disinfected.

Lesson 9: Environmental Controls (Contact Hours: 0.2)

This lesson is about the environmental controls that help you reduce and avoid exposures to infectious agents. You will learn how to properly label and store potentially infectious materials. The lesson covers how to handle accidental exposure incidents.

Lesson 10: Accidental Exposure Procedures (Contact Hours: 0.2)

This lesson is about dealing with accidental exposures to bloodborne pathogens. You will learn ways this happens and basic steps you can take if an accidental exposure happens.

Lesson 11: Exposure Control Plans (Contact Hours: 0.2)

This lesson will help you understand what an exposure control plan is and necessary components that keep the workplace safe. You will learn how important it is to know the plan through training and periodic reviews.