Quantitative components of a mental health task sharing study focused on clinical associates in South Africa

The study aimed to develop a mental health task sharing model focussed on clinical associates in South Africa. It consisted of three phases:
Reviewing the mental health content of clinical associate undergraduate curricula through in-depth interviews and a review of recordsAssessing the readiness for clinical associate task sharing in mental health through a KAP survey of clinical associates and focus group interviews with health managers, nurses and medical doctorsIdentifying the key elements of the task sharing model utilising a Delphi panel consisting of family physicians and psychiatrists
The data uploaded here is from the quantitative components of the study viz. KAP survey of clinical associates and the three rounds of the Delphi survey.
The KAP survey of clinical associates utilised an online (Qualtrics) questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of sections on the participants' demographic characteristics, their undergraduate training, knowledge of mental illness, confidence performing mental health-related tasks, attitudes towards mental illness, their current involvement in mental health service provision, and their interest in mental health training and service provision. The questionnaire included the 16-item Mental Illness Clinicians' Attitudes version 4 scale (Health Service and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London). The questionnaire was preceded by five questions to confirm if the potential participants met the inclusion criteria for the study and those who met the inclusion criteria needed to provide informed consent to participate.
The Delphi survey involved a panel consisting of family physicians and psychiatrists and took place over three rounds using online (Qualtrics) questionnaires. The first round questionnaire consisted of questions related to the levels of care at which mental health training of clinical associates should occur, the mental illnesses they should be able to recognise and manage, the health professionals and the teaching modalities that should be utilised in training, and the levels of care at which mental health task sharing should occur and the mental health tasks that could be performed. These questions were asked for both undergraduate training and for an hypothetical postgraduate qualification in mental health for clinical associates. The questionnaire was updated after each round with items on which consensus was reached being removed from the questionnaire for the subsequent rounds. In the second and third rounds, participants were provided with the median panel response and their own response from the previous round.

本研究旨在构建一套聚焦南非临床助理医师（clinical associates）的心理健康任务分担模型。研究共包含三个阶段：其一，通过深度访谈与档案审查，评估临床助理医师本科课程体系中的心理健康教育内容；其二，针对临床助理医师开展知识-态度-行为（Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, KAP）问卷调查，并联合卫生管理人员、护士及医师开展焦点小组访谈，以此评估临床助理医师参与心理健康任务分担的就绪性；其三，组建由家庭医师与精神科医师构成的德尔菲（Delphi）专家小组，明确该任务分担模型的核心要素。

本数据集上传的内容为研究的定量研究部分，即临床助理医师的KAP问卷调查数据，以及三轮德尔菲专家咨询的相关数据。

临床助理医师的KAP问卷调查采用了基于Qualtrics平台的在线问卷。问卷模块涵盖受访者人口统计学特征、本科培养经历、精神疾病相关知识、开展心理健康相关任务的自信心、对精神疾病的态度、当前参与心理健康服务的情况，以及对心理健康培训与服务的兴趣。问卷纳入了由伦敦国王学院精神病学研究所卫生服务与人口研究部编制的16项版《精神疾病临床医师态度量表（第4版）》。问卷开篇设置5道筛选题，用于确认潜在受访者是否符合本研究的纳入标准，符合标准的受访者需签署知情同意书后方可参与调研。

德尔菲专家咨询由家庭医师与精神科医师组成专家小组，通过三轮基于Qualtrics平台的在线问卷完成。首轮问卷的问题涵盖：临床助理医师的心理健康培训应在何种照护层级开展、临床助理医师需掌握识别与处置的精神疾病种类、培训应依托的卫生专业人员与教学模式，以及心理健康任务分担应开展的照护层级与可实施的心理健康任务。上述问题同时针对本科培养阶段，以及面向临床助理医师的拟议心理健康研究生学历教育阶段设置。每一轮咨询结束后，问卷将进行更新：已达成共识的调研条目将在后续轮次的问卷中移除。在第二轮与第三轮咨询中，参与者将收到专家小组的中位数应答结果，以及自身在上一轮的作答情况。