Level 1 training: Mental Health Skills Training (MHST)

Level 1 training: Mental Health Skills Training (MHST)

Objectives

In the context of general practice, MHST aims to:

• enhance your skills in recognising and assessing mental illnesses to prepare evidence-based GP MHTPs
• enhance your skills in monitoring and reviewing a patient’s progress
• provide you with insight into the perspective of people who have a lived experience of a mental illness
• provide you with insight into the perspective of non-professional carers caring for people living with mental illness.

There are two ways you can complete Level 1 training:

1. Option 1: the MHST Primary Pathway
2. Option 2: the MHST Modular Pathway.

Option 1: MHST Primary Pathway

The most common pathway GPs choose to become accredited with MHST, the Primary Pathway is designed for:

• general practice registrars and other doctors entering general practice in Australia
• GPs who need a refresher on core mental health skills as part of their CPD.

If you are an experienced GP, you can attend an MHST Primary Pathway course. We encourage GPs who have already completed MHST to complete courses in the MHST Modular Pathway because this will extend your skills in assessing and/or managing specific mental illnesses.

Requirements

You must complete:

• a six-hour (at minimum) MHST Primary Pathway course accredited by the GPMHSC (either an e-learning or a face-to-face course)
• the relevant predisposing components
• the relevant reinforcing components.

Learning outcomes

After completing the MHST Primary Pathway, you will be able to, in the context of general practice:

• detect mental health issues experienced by consumers
• assess and manage commonly presented mental illnesses
• in consultation with consumers and carers, develop an agreed evidence-based and needs-based GP MHTP
• develop a GP MHTP that incorporates the lived experience and needs of consumers, their carers and others in their network
• use practice systems and strategies to provide safe and holistic mental health care, including strategies that acknowledge and support your own self-care and wellbeing
• use appropriate MBS item numbers when providing mental health care.

Option 2: MHST Modular Pathway

Developed in response to the increasingly complex mental health issues that patients present with, this pathway is designed for more experienced GPs who have a particular interest in mental health. Typically, this would be GPs who:

• want to know more about mental health
• consult many patients with mental illness.

By choosing the MHST Modular Pathway, you can:

• acquire core skills and knowledge in mental health, then
• tailor your MHST learning according to your special interests and needs by completing different clinical enhancement modules as part of MH CPD, thereby expanding your skills and ability to treat complex mental illnesses.

After successfully completing the MHST Modular Pathway (see Requirements below), you will be able to use relevant MBS item numbers when providing mental health care.

If you require a refresher on core mental health skills, you can complete a mental health core module as part of your CPD.

Requirements

You must complete:

• one core module (minimum three hours), plus
• one clinical enhancement module (minimum four hours).

About the core module

Duration

At least three hours

Content

Covering the fundamentals of mental health care in Australian general practice, the core module includes:

• an overview of:
  • the Better Access initiative
  • mental health care services
  • mental health care resources available to GPs
• the key components of a GP MHTP
• a deeper understanding of mental illnesses commonly encountered in general practice
• an introduction of the concept of the consumer and carer perspective when providing mental health care.

Learning outcomes

After completing the core module, you will be able to, in the context of general practice:

• detect mental health issues experienced by consumers
• assess and manage the treatment of commonly presented mental illnesses
• in consultation with consumers and carers, develop an agreed evidence-based and needs-based GP MHTP
• discuss the use of practice systems and strategies to provide safe and holistic mental health care, including strategies that acknowledge and support your own self-care and wellbeing
• discuss appropriate MBS item numbers when providing mental health care.

About the clinical enhancement module

Prerequisite

The mental health core module.

Choosing a clinical enhancement module

We encourage you to:

• choose the mental health clinical enhancement module that best suits your specific needs or areas of interest, then
• complete a range of mental health clinical enhancement modules as part of your CPD.

Clinical enhancement modules focus on one or more of the mental illnesses specified in the Better Access initiative, so that after you complete both the core and clinical enhancement module, you can:

• develop GP MHTPs
• claim relevant MBS items.

Flexibility with timing and providers

You do not have to complete the core module and the clinical enhancement module on the same day, nor with the same training provider.

However, if you complete modules with a different training provider, your RACGP CPD / ACRRM PDP accrual of hours may be affected. For more information about this, contact the RACGP or ACRRM.

Duration

At least four hours.

Content

The mental health clinical enhancement module:

• builds on the knowledge acquired in the core module
• includes carer and consumer perspectives relating to the specific mental illness(es) covered
• applies that knowledge to a specific mental health condition, or complex situations, or a specific consumer group, which means that the content is more specific than the content covered in the MHST Primary Pathway.

Learning outcomes

After completing the clinical enhancement module, you will be able to, in the context of general practice:

• detect mental health issues experienced by consumers
• assess and manage the treatment of commonly presented mental illnesses
• in consultation with consumers and carers, develop an agreed evidence-based and needs-based GP MHTP
• develop a GP MHTP that incorporates the lived experience and needs of consumers, their carers and others in their network
• use practice systems and strategies to provide safe and holistic mental health care, including strategies that acknowledge and support your own self-care and wellbeing.

Useful GPMHSC resources Mental Health Skills Training.  Becoming an accredited MHST provider – a step-by-step process.