Essential shared capabilities for the whole of the mental health workforce: bringing the educators into the frame
| Published date | 24 September 2009 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17556228200900022 |
| Date | 24 September 2009 |
| Pages | 21-29 |
| Author | Jill Anderson,Hilary Burgess |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
21
The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice Volume 4 Issue 3 September 2009 © Pier Professional Ltd
Essential shared capabilities for
the whole of the mental health
workforce: bringing the educators
into the frame
Abstract
Recent drives to modernise the mental health
workforce have been led (in England) by initiatives
such as New Ways of Working and informed by
the Ten Essential Shared Capabilities (10 ESCs)
(Department of Health, 2004), reflected elsewhere
in the UK. Learning materials have been developed
to support these and educators encouraged to
embed them within curricula. Yet, little has been
said about how such principles could or should
apply to the practice of mental health educators
themselves. Higher education plays a crucial part
in shaping tomorrow’s practitioners; yet educators
can receive scant mention when workforce
initiatives are launched. Here, then, we consider
the 10 ESCs, examining how these might be put
into practice in a higher education context. The
pedagogic rationale for this perspective is discussed
in terms of Biggs’ (2003) concept of ‘constructive
alignment’, Ward’s (1999) ‘matching principle’ and
Eraut’s (1994) analysis of ‘professional education’.
Reconceptualising higher education educators as
a part (albeit semi-detached) of the mental health
workforce may help us move beyond a ‘tick-box’
approach – exploring not only whether the 10 ESCs
are reflected in the content of curricula, but how they
are embodied within teaching teams.
Key words
mental health; capabilit y; higher e ducation;
workforce; professional training
Introduction
A significant barrier to the creation of coherent services for
people experiencing mental distress has been the absence
of a shared vision concerning the capabilities needed
across all professions at all levels. The development of the
Ten Essential Shared Capabilities (10 ESCs) (Department of
Health, 2004) has sought to address this gap, and extensive
work has been undertaken to promote their integration
into training and education (Basset et al, 2007; NHS
Education for Scotland, 2007a; Stickley & Basset, 2008).
They have informed developments in acute mental health
care (NHS Education for Scotland, 2007b) prison mental
health care (Hughes, 2006) and psychiatric education
(Bhugra, 2008). The associated training materials have
been evaluated (Brabban et al , 2006) and mapping
exercises are underway to ascertain the extent to which
the 10 ESCs have been embedded within higher education.
Conceptually, the 10 ESCs have been seen primarily as a
framework that educators should ‘deliver’. In this article,
we explore whether and how mental health educators
may themselves exemplify the 10 ESCs in their teaching
practice. We begin by considering the nature of the mental
health educator workforce and the role of the Mental
Health in Higher Education project. We select some key
pedagogic principles that support the application of the 10
ESCs in a teaching context and elaborate how they might
be demonstrated by educators in their own roles, giving
examples of some activities and approaches. We conclude
by reflecting on the benefits and challenges of conceiving
of mental health educators as a distinctive, yet essential,
part of the mental health workforce as a whole.
Jill Anderson
Senior Project Development Officer, Mental Health in Higher Education, Lancaster University
Hilary Burgess
Senior Lecturer, University of Bristol; Senior Academic Advisor, Social Policy and Social Work Subject Centre
of the Higher Education Academy (SWAP)
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