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Dr. Vermette is Director, Mental Health Access Clinic, North Texas VA, and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, UT Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas. This work was completed while she was a fellow with the University of Massachusetts Law and Psychiatry Program. Dr. Pinals is Director, Forensic Psychiatry Education and Training, and Associate Professor of Psychiatry; and Dr. Appelbaum is A. F. Zeleznik Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA. Address correspondence to: Heidi Vermette, MD, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Mental Health 116A, 4500 South Lancaster Road, Dallas, TX 75216. E-mail: heidi.vermette{at}med.va.gov
The purpose of this pilot study was to determine topics of interest and preferred modalities of training for police officers in their work with persons with mental illness. Police officers across Massachusetts attending in-service mental health training were asked to rate the importance of potential mental health topics and the effectiveness of potential training modalities on a Likert-type scale. Additional data collected included the officer's experience, level of education, motivation for attendance, previous attendance of post-academy mental health training, and preferences for length, frequency, training site, and trainer qualifications. A t test was used to determine if there were significant differences (p < .05) between those who volunteered and those who were mandated to attend the training. Repeated-measures ANOVAs were used to determine if there were significant differences (p < .05) between mental health topics and lecture formats and to determine the effect of education and experience on the results. Although all topics suggested were rated, primarily, as fairly important, the topics of Dangerousness, Suicide by Cop, Decreasing Suicide Risk, Mental Health Law, and Your Potential Liability for Bad Outcomes were given the highest ratings. Role-playing was rated significantly lower than other training modalities, while Videos and Small Group Discussion had the highest mean scores. Level of prior education had no significant effect on the ratings, but officers with more experience rated the importance of mental illness as a training topic significantly higher than officers with less experience. This survey suggests that police officers are interested in learning more about working with persons with mental illness and view it as an important aspect of the job.
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