Creating a Learning Culture

Topic: This column describes the efforts of an agency to build a learning culture as part of changing their approach to service delivery, when adopting a focus on psychiatric rehabilitation and recovery. Purpose: This example of one organization's challenges and successes in workforce development provides an alternative approach to the common single-session staff training that typically fails to change practice. Sources Used: This description draws from published material on communities of practice, technical consultation, and agency experience. Conclusions and Implications for Practice: Training alone is not enough to create change. An organizational commitment to ongoing quality improvement, along with available and accessible technical assistance for staff, creates an environment where change is anticipated, managed, and celebrated.