Assessment of service provider competency for child and adolescent psychological treatments and psychosocial services in global mental health: evaluation of feasibility and reliability of the WeACT tool in Gaza, Palestine

This study identifies a scarcity of evaluated tools to assess whether non-specialist providers achieve minimum levels of competency to effectively and safely deliver psychological interventions in low- and middle-income countries. The objective of this study was to evaluate the reliability and utility of the newly developed Working with children – Assessment of Competencies Tool (WeACT) to assess service providers’ competencies in Gaza, Palestine. It evaluated; (1) psychometric properties of the WeACT based on observed role-plays by trainers/supervisors; (2) sensitivity to change among service provider competencies using pre-and-post training WeACT scores on standardized role-plays; (3) in-service competencies among experienced service providers using standardized role-plays.