Evaluation of training and support in the use of electronic health records in Community Mental Health centers in Peru

Abstract

Objective: To describe the experience and evaluations of workers from Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC) in Peru who received training and support to use the mental health module of the Electronic Health Record Information System (SIHCE). Materials and methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive study during the implementation of the SIHCE in CMHCs. Participants included facilitators and workers from 55 prioritized CMHCs nationwide. Facilitators were first trained both in-person and virtually, and then replicated the knowledge thus acquired to the workers in their respective CMHCs. The variables of interest, collected through surveys and analyzed descriptively, included assessments of the training and support processes. Results: Data from 96 facilitators (both clinical and non-clinical) and 53 CMHC workers were analyzed. Most clinical facilitators (54.2%) rated the virtual and in-person training as average and insufficient but evaluated the support as good, whereas 52.2% of non-clinical facilitators rated them as average. 83.3% of clinical facilitators and 73.9% of non-clinical facilitators considered the support as necessary, although 58.3% of clinical facilitators and 65.2% of non-clinical facilitators rated it insufficient for using SIHCE. Regarding the support provided to workers at their centers, it was better evaluated by clinical facilitators, while less than half of both groups considered the training sufficient for most workers. Conclusions: The results indicate that the training and support for using SIHCE in Peru's CMHCs require improvements to ensure the scalability of the CMHCs nationwide.