Psychiatric Clinical Officer Psychological Training and Projects
The PCO PTP Project was developed to improve skills in psychological interventions and project management among Psychiatric Clinical Officers, a cadre of mental health professional unique to Uganda that provide much of the mental health services in rural Uganda.
The project was developed by the PCOs in collaboration with the East London NHS Foundation Trust - Butabika Link who have been involved in the ongoing professional development of the PCOs since 2004.
Needs assessments carried out annual training workshops identified a need for increased psychological skills and greater understanding of project management.
Both of the areas are difficult to teach in isolated annual workshops so it was decided to embed these within a 3 year programme that would also involve supporting PCOs to put psychological learning into practice, establishing appropriate ongoing supervision structures, and supporting the development of projects to facilitate learning about project management.
Funding for the 3 year project was a Large Grant from the British Council/THET International Health Link Funding Scheme.
