Infant mental health training needs of service providers in early intervention programs

The mental health of young children with special needs and their families has presented unique challenges for service providers in early intervention systems. In addition, the shift to a family-centered approach for delivering services has forced practitioners and program managers to reconsider preservice and inservice training for providers. To assess the needs of the intervention teams, surveys were mailed to 1,253 direct care providers, and 627 were returned. Four domains of infant mental health were explored: attachment, behavior, stress/coping, and regulation/adaptation. Differences in comfort with those domains were found among the providers based on their professional training as well as on their years of experience. In addition, providers rated workshops and conferences as two of their three highest modes for learning. They stressed the desire for inservice training, which takes into consideration both years of experience and discipline. Results have implications for alternative ways to promote both collaboration and training.

Infant mental health training needs of service providers in early intervention programs Academic Article