"We have found that without regular cheerleaders of the approach and top up trainings, elements of it can be lost"

Feedback from an AMBIT-influenced team, 2014

Who does this role?

Within each AMBIT team, it is essential that at least two members of the team acts to support AMBIT practice for the team - we call this role the AMBIT Lead, and there is additional training for these people as part of the AMBIT Basic Five Day Training; this is the AMBIT Basic Training Day 3 (AMBIT Leads).

One AMBIT Lead must be a senior member of the team, with leadership or supervisory responsibility for the team.

What does the AMBIT Lead do? (A job description)

The job description for an AMBIT lead can be seen as having several broad roles.
1. To be part of the Implementation Team which supports and encourages AMBIT practice via the Implementation Plan.
2. To become competent in Using the Manual in order to support others in making use of it.
3. To encourage innovation and local adaptations of the approach in order to take into account the local context and service objectives and priorities.
4. To facilitate and/or deliver ongoing in-house training of AMBIT practice for team members.
5. Working with the team leaders/managers to integrate AMBIT practice within core team activities, roles, and responsibilities.
6. Facilitating team discussion around practice in order to develop systematic ideas that can be recorded as part of the manual.
7. To promote a culture that respects help seeking within the team, and the practice of Thinking Together.
8. To maintain links with the AMBIT Community of Practice

• via the manual
• via the AMBIT Lead peer-to-peer system
• via a relationship to a nominated AMBIT trainer

9. Although being an AMBIT Lead is a large responsibility, the time commitment is quite low; no more than one hour per week.

Person specification

1. The person needs to have demonstrate active interest in the dilemmas of supporting good practice in the team.
2. At least one of the two AMBIT Leads should have a senior/supervisory/leadership role within the team (this work involves trying to shape another team member's work, and all the dilemmas that this poses.) There may be advantages in having the second AMBIT Lead as someone who is not in such a senior position - but we do not prescribe this in detail as teams differ - but there SHOULD BE TWO.
3. Both AMBIT Leads must be able to talk to each other! The importance of this cannot be over-stressed - as our Theory of Mentalization supports the idea that being in relationship supports this function of mind.
4. An interest and enthusiasm for understanding mental health and psychological interventions.
5. Some confidence in using computers and the internet. (Not excessive and probably not more than most people are familiar with) Not someone who is over anxious about these matters.
6. The person does not need to know about all the CONTENT of the AMBIT approach before doing the training. So it is not necessary for them to be ready-made experts on mentalization etc. They would be expected to learn this stuff with the rest of the team during the training.

Getting comfortable with the manual

It is helpful for the AMBIT lead to become interested and familiar with the manual and to be able to make the best use of it for the team. In this way we suggest that the AMBIT lead should aim:

1. To become familiar with the content of the AMBIT manual and to be fluent in finding and using it.
2. To be fluent in Editing and adding new material to the manual, as needed.
3. To make the material in the manual accessible to other team members as much as possible.
4. To encourage team members to make new material for the manual particularly Videos explaining or demonstrating parts of the approach.
5. To encourage that team discussion about protocols and good practice is recorded in the manual as part of local Manualization.
6. To encourage team members to refer to the manual as a resource in response to clinical problems and client difficulties, promoting attention to, and the valuing of the Core Features of AMBIT

Training

The AMBIT lead should attend a one day training for AMBIT leads which would provide familiarity with the manual AMBIT Basic Training Day 3 (AMBIT Leads). The learning objectives of this day are to:

1. Provide an opportunity to consider the AMBIT lead role in your team (The AMBIT Lead - role and responsibilities).
2. Become familiar with Using the Manual.
3. Planning a training event in your team.
4. Practice Manualization as a team process.

See Training slides for the powerpoint slides used in the training.

Why do this?

Manualization is one of the Core Features of AMBIT and is based on the evidence that interventions supported by manuals tend to be more effective than those which are not. The purpose of manualization is to encourage teams to reflect on what they do and to record the outcomes of their discussion in order to support future practice.