Increasing cultural competence through needs assessment and professional development

Abstract

The increasing cultural diversity of American students makes it imperative for school-based professionals to engage in culturally-competent practice, thereby ensuring high-quality mental health services. Although most cultural competence training occurs in university programs, research shows practicing mental health professionals would benefit from continuing professional development (PD). Adopting Desimone’s model of PD, and using a mixed-method design, this study investigated the use of consultation and a needs assessment to design, implement and evaluate cultural competence training with a follow-up assessment. Fifty-seven, school-based mental health professionals participated in pre-assessments of cultural competence and the needs assessment. This information was used to develop PD on cultural competence. Evaluation of study outcomes indicated that the needs assessment contributed to the successful design and implementation of the PD session, and 12 weeks after PD a subsample of participants showed significantly increased awareness, knowledge and skills associated with cultural competence. Implications focus on current practice and future research using a needs assessment for planning PD to promote cultural competence.