Evaluating an Early-Stage Psychosis Training Program for Interdisciplinary Mental Health Students and Trainees: A Mixed-Methods Pilot Study

Aim: Identifying young people in the early stages of psychosis identification is critical, since a longer duration of untreated psychosis is associated with poorer recovery outcomes. However, many mental health students and trainees do not receive training in this area. The aim of this study was to pilot test the effectiveness of an early-stage psychosis training program for mental health students and trainees. Method: A pre/post matched sample of interdisciplinary mental health students and trainees (N = 21) attended a 75-min early-stage psychosis training program, and completed measures related to stigma, clinical training outcomes, and knowledge. Results: There were significant improvements in psychosis-related stigma, intended clinical behaviour and knowledge. There was also high satisfaction with the training program. Conclusion: This study suggests that a brief early-stage psychosis training program is acceptable to students and trainees and feasible to implement and may yield significant benefits regarding students and trainees' personal psychosis stigma, as well as improvements in clinical behaviour and psychosis knowledge.