---
id: "coronavirus-smarter-crowdsourcing:recommendations/increase-provider-capacity"
type: "GovLab policy recommendation"
title: "Increase provider capacity"
url: "https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/recommendations/increase-provider-capacity"
summary: "Increase provider capacity through innovations in training opportunities and strategies to expand the workforce supply."
source: "The GovLab (coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org)"
licence: "Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)"
---

# Increase provider capacity

Increase provider capacity through innovations in training opportunities and strategies to expand the workforce supply.

- Part of: [Smarter Crowdsourcing in the Age of Coronavirus](https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/), [all recommendations](https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/recommendations)

## Strategy 1

Use technology to train community health workers and other healthcare providers who may have no experience in mental healthcare and mental first aid

- Timeframe: 1-3 Months (immediate)
- Audience: Healthcare Providers, Organized Civil Society, Nonprofits
- Type: Technology/Innovation, Partnerships, Capacity Building
- Strategy page: https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/strategies/use-technology-to-train-community-health-workers-a

### Actions governments should take (strategy 1)

1. Shortages of specialists in the settings that need support can be addressed by guiding non-specialists in a step-by-step way to deliver an evidence based intervention. Step-by-step guidelines ensure adherence to guidelines and also reduces stress on the provider.
2. Create repositories of existing mental health educational resources for people to use.
3. Translating resources from other languages is less resource and time intensive than creating them from scratch. Many resources are written in English but have not been translated into Spanish or other languages.
4. Identify cost effective means of translating existing resources from English or other languages into Spanish or Portuguese. Examples can include using students or bilingual individuals.
5. Adapt available open source manuals on how to adapt digital technology to train community health workers on psychological assessments, such as those provided by the digital training website of the Healthy Activity Program (HAP).

### Examples from around the world (strategy 1)

1. The Faculties of Medicine, Psychology and Nursing of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana have created [a platform and strategy](https://www.javeriana.edu.co/mentescolectivas/) that offers support and mental health counseling to Colombians of legal age. The platform allows individuals seeking support to select their preferred form of communication which include chat services, email, or phone calls. A group of student volunteers, [trained in mental health issues](https://www.javeriana.edu.co/mentescolectivas/), then reach out and speak with the individuals to listen and also recommend tools that can support an individual’s well-being. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana has also created [an information hub](https://www.javeriana.edu.co/mentalpuntodeapoyo/?page_id=2010) with tips and resources for individuals to proactively protect their mental health.

## Strategy 2

Engage cross-sectoral partners to utilize available mental health resources and increase the supply of providers

- Timeframe: 3-6 Months (medium)
- Audience: Civil Society, Vulnerable Populations, Healthcare Providers, Government Workers, Organized Civil Society, Nonprofits
- Type: Technology/Innovation, Partnerships, Capacity Building
- Strategy page: https://coronavirus.smartercrowdsourcing.org/strategies/engage-cross-sectoral-partners-to-utilize-availabl

### Actions governments should take (strategy 2)

1. Work with local community leaders to identify mental health gaps and needs of their community.
2. Form multi-sectoral commissions with diverse representations of experts to conduct needs assessments and define the mental health needs of specific groups and to identify the best strategies to reach those needing support.
3. Partner with universities and colleges to recruit psychology, psychiatry and nursing students to offer care via telehealth and other technologies.
4. Partner with schools, workplaces, community centers, religious institutions and other cultural institutions to offer training opportunities to build the capacity of non-specialist staff persons in these institutions.
5. Engage these institutions to socialize available resources and direct their constituents, members, students, employees etc. to those available resources.
6. Conduct training of trainers (TOT) for basic psychological first aid courses and make training available to non-specialists and laypersons in communities and community institutions.
7. Ensure that schools, community centers, religious institutions and other cultural centers are aware of and provide support resources to their constituent members.
8. Create an online course or asynchronous learning module that explains the fundamentals of the requested collaboration, including instructions on how to use the appropriate softwares, apps, or other data collection technologies.
9. Identify neighboring jurisdictions or external supplies of providers that have capacity to support provision of services via tech-enabled services (e.g. phone lines, telemedicine, etc.).

### Examples from around the world (strategy 2)

1. [In Colombia, health workers from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana have created repositories of existing mental health educational resources for people to use. Translating resources from other languages (English tends to be the richest) is less resource and time intensive than creating these resources from scratch.](https://www.javeriana.edu.co/mentalpuntodeapoyo/)