Training Mindfulness Facilitators: Evaluating the VA CALM Program at the Veterans Health Administration

Serpa, J. Greg; Atwood, Kathy; Shamblen, Stephen R.; Sangpukdee, Aree; Jents, Melissa A.; Wolf, Christiane

doi:10.1007/s12671-022-01905-8

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…In the parent study, participants (N = 74) were divided into 2 groups to facilitate in-person instruction in smaller, more manageable cohorts. 8 The present study was conducted with the second cohort only (n = 39), delivered at VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System in November 2019. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board and the participants of the second cohort also signed consents to be video recorded for this subgroup study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…VA CALM (Veterans Administration – Compassionate Awareness Learning Module) was developed to address the need for healthcare professionals to teach high quality MBIs on a national scale. This year-long training, described in detail elsewhere, 8 produced significant and large magnitude increases in competence and self-efficacy in teaching MBIs. The training program also confers additional benefits on the participants including significant and large magnitude improvements in mindfulness, self-compassion, burnout, and stress.…”

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confidence: 93%

“…These clinicians reported a mean age of 45 years of age (SD = 10.4) and 8.7 years (SD = 6.7) of VA employment and from diverse disciplines including psychologists (48%), social workers (33%), physicians (10%), nurses (5%), and other clinicians including dentists, pharmacists, and occupational therapists (3%). 8 Participants in the VA CALM program are trained to teach the curriculum as described in The Clinician’s Guide to Teaching Mindfulness . 9 This 90-minute, 8 session course teaches a variety of mindfulness and compassion practices (eg, body scan, breath, sound, loving kindness, mindful walking, compassionate breathing) in a group format.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The incorporation of the Mindfulness-Based Intervention: Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI:TAC) 11 competence assessment tool into the VA CALM training addresses various program goals. First, the competency tool was used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the VA CALM program in increasing participant competence, 8 a key outcome of the parent study. Second, use of the MBI:TAC “maps the territory” of the skills needed to teach an MBI and introduces a shared language.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Mindfulness-Based Teaching Competency Assessment: Comparing Self-Assessment With Expert Evaluation in the Veterans Administration – Compassionate Awareness Learning Module Program

Serpa,

Shamblen,

Atwood

et al. 2023

Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health

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Background Meditation, including Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBI), is a required Complementary and Integrative Health intervention at the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Training VA clinicians to provide MBI at scale must address fidelity concerns and the assessment of clinician competency. Objective The psychometric properties of the Mindfulness-Based Intervention: Teaching Assessment Criteria (MBI:TAC), a widely used tool for assessing facilitator competence, continue to be explored. To support the dissemination of MBI, the utility of using the MBI:TAC for self-assessment for clinicians in a national training program was evaluated. Methods In a training cohort of VA clinicians (n = 39), participant self evaluations on 2 domains of the MBI:TAC are compared to the competency scores of 2 expert evaluators as based on the observations of a 10-minute exercise. Additionally, the inter-rater reliability between the 2 experts was explored. Results Intraclass Correlation for the 2 expert evaluators for Guiding Practice was significant ( ρ = .83, P = .003), but was not significant for Embodiment of Mindfulness (ρ = .34, P = .186). Self-evaluation scores were not significantly correlated to expert rater scores such that participants rate their level of competence higher than expert scores. Conclusion The MBI:TAC, while an essential tool in teacher training, may not produce accurate scores when used for self-assessment. Instruction from a senior teacher is needed for accurate scoring. Interrater reliability may be improved with enhanced domain operationalization and training. Implications for MBI training are explored.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 93%

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confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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