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Workforce Development / Training / Supervision

Training for behavioral health providers serving families impacted by caregiver unhealthy substance use: An examination of training availability

(PS3-100) Training for Behavioral Health Providers Serving Families Impacted by Caregiver Unhealthy Substance Use: An Examination of Training Availability

Friday, November 15, 2024

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM EST

Location: Franklin Hall, Level 4, Marriott Downtown

Author(s)

KH

Kalyn Holmes, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow
Denver Health Hospital Authority
Denver, Colorado, United States

Co-Author(s)

ES

Erin Soares, Ph.D.

PEDUC Psychology Team Lead
Denver Health Hospital Authority
Denver, Colorado, United States
KS

Kelly Stainback-Tracy, M.P.H.

Health Program Coordinator
Denver Health Hospital Authority
Denver, Colorado, United States
SB

Sarah Belstock, Other

Director, Community Health Promotion
Denver Health Hospital Authority
Denver, Colorado, United States
LW

Lucia Walsh Pedersen, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Psychology
University of Colorado, School of Medicine
Denver, Colorado, United States

Abstract Text: Youth in families with caregiver unhealthy substance use (CUSU) are at an increased risk of developing a substance use disorder (SUD) and emotional health concerns later in life (Straussner & Fewell, 2018). Early intervention can p</span>revent such intergenerational cycles and curb the rising rate of SUDs, but these families face numerous barriers to accessing and remaining in behavioral health services (Butler et al., 2020; Feder et al., 2018; Radel et al., 2018). One barrier is the limited availability of specialized training for future providers seeking to serve this population (Evans et al, 2013; Hendersen et al., 2017). These gaps in training are likely due, in part, to systemic biases towards CUSU and siloing of substance use programs (Brousselle et al., 2012). While continuing education and certification courses are available in this area, more research is needed to understand training availability at the graduate level. We examined two research questions: 1) what graduate-level training is available for behavioral health providers working with families impacted by CUSU and 2) what are the most common components of such training as reported by training directors (TDs)?
We invited TDs of master- and doctoral-level psychology, psychiatry, and social work p</span>rograms to participate using list-serve emails and snowball sampling. Participants completed a 15-item, multiple choice survey assessing training program features (i.e., broad geographic region, program type), topics related to CUSU covered in program coursework, participant interest in incorporating these topics, and barriers to implementing such training. Participants endorsed whether each topic is unavailable, available as an elective, or required coursework in their program. We chose the topics presented after surveying providers serving this population, presenting to youth from families impacted by CUSU, and an examination of continuing education and certification courses in the areas of substance use. Analyses are currently in progress. We will examine endorsement frequency for individual training topics, compare TD reported requirement-levels across topics, and conduct a thematic analysis of TD responses to all open-ended questions.
We hypothesize that few graduate programs will report any curricula related to treating youth and families impacted by CUSU, especially required coursework. We expect there will be moderate agreement across programs regarding TD reported common components of existing curricula. Based on initial examination of continuing education and certification courses, we expect theories of substance use, the impact of CUSU on family systems, and principles of recovery and relapse prevention treatment to be the most reported. Findings from this study will aide in the development of standard training curricula and inform policy related to licensing and credentialing standards.