Piloting competency assessments for an evidence-based brief psychological intervention with Arabic-speaking non-specialists in Switzerland

The global challenge of closing the treatment gap highlights the need for innovative interventions. Problem Management Plus (PM+), developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), is an evidence-based brief psychological intervention designed to address this gap by involving non-specialist helpers. In this study, 'non-specialists' or 'helpers' are individuals without formal training in mental health, who have been trained in and have been delivering individual PM+ for more than 1.5 years. To enhance quality in mental health care, especially with non-specialists, WHO and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) have launched the Ensuring Quality in Psychosocial and Mental Health Care (EQUIP) platform, an open-access resource for competency-based training. This study evaluates the acceptability and preliminary utility of EQUIP assessment tools. Thirteen helpers were assessed using the ENhancing Assessment of Common Therapeutic Factors (ENACT) and the PM+ assessment tool, culturally adapted and translated for Arabic-speaking helpers in Switzerland. The results indicate that the EQUIP tools can identify strengths and areas for improvement, provide valuable feedback for training, and thus have great potential for enhancing mental health care quality.