Our Approach

TCMA Mental Health Framework

Our Framework was designed with a working group of health professionals, lived experience informed advisory group, and representatives from the across healthcare, education, legal and academic sectors. The Framework outlines a set of guiding principles for clinical governance to ensure the delivery of safe and high-quality mental healthcare education.

The Framework has been established to:

  • Increase mental health AwarenessBuild knowledge and improve Competency levels of learners
  • Propagate health promotion, prevention and early intervention across the continuum of care, including connections to care pathways
  • Adopt a strengths-based approach, underpinned by positive psychology in recognition that inherent strengths and social resources can contribute to wellbeing
  • Recognize the Care Model endorsed by various Governments across Africa in their Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan
  • Informed by the socio-ecological model that is settings-based, enabling training to be tailored to the specific audience the training is targeting
  • Ensure psychological safety is built into training
  • Build mental health literacy capability of learners to support early help-seeking behaviour, reduce stigma and support inclusive and compassionate care conversations
  • Support measurement of performance outcomes to evaluate of effectiveness of training and support continuous improvement in quality and safety
  • Ensure strong cross sector education and health clinical leadership
  • Ensure professional standards or industry recognised Frameworks are mapped to learning outcomes

Competency-Based Training

Competency based education enables each learner the opportunity to move forward at their own pace in building mental health and wellbeing knowledge and skills. It provides flexibility in the learning process, allowing the learner to build inherent skills, no matter their knowledge background or mental health literacy levels.

TCMA has established set of competencies across the spectrum of mental ill-health and specific needs of the target group. Performance measurement criteria is assessed in two ways:

  1. TCMA Self-Efficacy Scale issued prior to commencement (pre) and end of course (post), is used to measure changes in confidence level for understanding mental ill-health and applying practical strategies to support help-seeking behaviour.
  2. Level of attainment of key skills and capabilities is assessed for each training module through post-training quiz questions. Training is outcomes-focused, relying more on the learner’s ability to apply knowledge, skills and abilities to the standards of performance in the TCMA Framework for mental health and wellbeing.

Our Framework levels of competency are tailored to the sector, and contextualised for the environment in which they are practiced. For example, non-clinical school and tertiary sector educators, have varied levels of skills and experience they bring to a young person’s mental health and wellbeing.

Attaining higher level of competency is also available to TCMA learners, through ongoing access to the platform and our constant quest for vital partnerships.

TCMA is also able to generate reporting on effectiveness of training and certify course participants.

Course Accreditations

TCMA’s Framework has been mapped against various professional standards.

Participants who complete any of our courses will be issued with a digital PDF Certificate of Completion. 

The online standardized accreditation assessment includes post-course assessment of confidence levels through the 10 multiple-choice quiz questions (post) for each module. Competency is assessed based on maturity of self-assessment, in recognition that the clinical and non-clinical workforce is moving towards strengthening approaches to work effectively in mental health and wellbeing. Participants who complete any of our module courses can also do a refresher course in 1.5 years’ time, and continue to up-skill by completing micro-credentialing, depending on interest and professional requirements. Courses range from single module course, to bundled micro-courses and full 8-module courses and can be accessed through the platform.

We are designed and tailored to different industries for a bespoke training experience.