In the Military Health System (MHS), behavioral health technicians (BHTs) play an important role in supporting licensed mental health providers in evaluating and treating patients and their families. BHTs are an important part of the MHS's overall mental health workforce and receive specialized training to fulfill this role. However, their roles, and perceptions of their competencies, can vary widely.
To determine how to optimize the integration of behavioral health technicians' capabilities, RAND conducted a survey of BHTs and mental health providers on the roles of BHTs in the Military Health System.
To do this, researchers:
This project surveyed both BHTs and mental health providers to understand how BHT skills are applied within the MHS. Understanding their current roles throughout the MHS helped identify opportunities for improvement. In this way, these surveys provided insight into BHT training and capabilities, as well as how their roles could be maximized to provide high quality mental health care.
This survey was supported by the Department of Defense’s Behavioral Health Technician Work Group, as stated in the Letter of Support (PDF). This survey received all required human subjects and regulatory approvals. The survey Report Control Symbol (RCS) license number is DD-HA-2703 (Washington Headquarters Services).
The survey was conducted June 1 to August 3, 2021, and is now closed.
