Blended learning project covering the Mental Health Act
Features
- E-learning
- Blended
The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 covers a range of issues relating to the effect of the mental health orders that may be imposed by the Court where it makes a disposal in the case of a mentally disordered offender (MDO).
For the first time the Act introduced a statutory role for Mental Health Officers (MHOs) in relation to mental health orders made by the criminal courts under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. Not all such orders are subject to ‘restriction’, but many are.
There are 650+ MHOs, any of whom might at some time be involved in dealing with MDOs. MHOs have expertise in mental disorder, civil components of mental health law and risk assessment.
However, a recent survey of MHOs found that many of them lacked direct experience in relation to the Criminal Justice System and working with MDOs at a time when there are enhanced requirements for MHOs to engage in these activities under the 1995 and 2003 Acts and related policies and guidance.
Walkgrove won the contract to develop blended materials, on a very limited budget, to complement the basic awareness training provided via the classroom.
We developed:
- E-learning – providing much of the underpinning knowledge
- Text-based workbooks – providing both underpinning knowledge and practical skills
- Quick reference guides – for learners to use in the workplace
All components of this training programme are deployed via Walkgrove’s LMS.
What the client had to say:
“It is to the huge credit of Walkgrove that they have taken on this unique training with all its difficulties. They have employed techniques which required members to take responsibility for their own learning by active participation. That exercise has resulted in members becoming mutually supportive. Not only have they learned a great deal but they have developed an esprit de corps. The training programme has been extremely successful and other agencies view it with respect and admiration. I now consider that against all the odds, in a very short space of time, I have acquired three hundred members who are competent, confident and desperately anxious to deliver a service that is worthy of the commitment which our society has made to a very vulnerable group within it”.
