Indigenous Psychological Services

The Aboriginal Mental Health Cultural Competency Test (CCT: Westerman, 2003, 2010) is unique to Australia in that it is the only tool that has been both culturally and psychometrically validated as a measure of Aboriginal mental health cultural competence (see Westerman, 2003). The research (and therefore evidence base) behind the development of the CCT has been extensive. It’s initial development commenced in 1998 and involved focus groups with 723 Aboriginal people as a method of determining the key factors that predict Aboriginal mental health competence in practice. From this, the Aboriginal community defined cultural competency as being made up of the following key areas;(1) Cultural Knowledge – whether there is sufficient cultural, local and mental health specific knowledge to be able to work at an effective level with Aboriginal people; (2) Skills and Abilities – does the individual have the ability to apply their skills in a way that is effective with Aboriginal mental health clients; (3) Attitudes & Beliefs – assesses the degree of attitude and belief ‘fit’ between Aboriginal client and practitioner; (4) Resources and Linkages determines the availability of community, resources and links to the practitioner, and (5) Organisational Influences which gauges participants views on how their Organisation functions across different levels of Aboriginal mental health service delivery. The CCT has been normed on 623 practitioners Australia wide. The normative data means that average levels of competency have been able to be calculated, thus providing vital information on the nature of the Aboriginal mental health workforce within Australia and allowing baseline skills to be compared against a national average or benchmark.

THE VALUE OF CULTURAL COMPETENCY TESTING AS A METHOD OF MEASURING THE IMPACT OF IPS' ABORIGINAL MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING PROGRAMS

IPS has utilised the CCT as a benchmark against which to measure the ability of their Aboriginal Mental Health Training Programs to develop worker cultural competencies. The Aboriginal Mental Health Cultural Competency Intervention Programs delivered by IPS includes using the CCT as a pre-test of organisational cultural competencies; then using their existing suite of trainings to design a training program aimed at the specific needs of the organsational workforce (in relation to measured cultural competencies needs) and then a post-test following the training program. IPS has achieved significant improvements to worker cultural competencies which has strong implications for the value of having the ability to measure and define cultural competencies. This makes IPS programs unique to the field. For results of these programs download the report here.

Pricing:
Individual Cultural Competency Test - $250 per person or if purchasing 2 cultural competency evaluations (eg. one now and a re-evaluation in 6 months) $450 per person.

To complete the CCT click here

For an Organisational Cultural Competency Intervention Program - contact IPS