The expansion of integrated behavioral health (IBH) in primary care is crucial to addressing the growing behavioral health crisis in the US. Evidence shows that patients are more likely to receive behavioral health diagnosis and treatment in primary care than in specialty mental health settings. COVID-19 disrupted primary care delivery, necessitating modifications to IBH. Social…
By employing evidence-based methods, harm reduction seeks to lessen the negative health and social consequences associated with substance use. As harm reduction services continue to expand without the need for professional certification, there remains considerable variation in how the workforce is perceived and trained in harm reduction principles and practices. This article explores the harm…
Behavioral health needs are on the rise in the United States, significantly influencing health care utilization, costs, and outcomes. Social workers offer diverse services across health, behavioral health, and community settings. Although this variety enhances care delivery, it also makes health workforce analyses more complex. This article describes the various estimates provided by 5 national…
Harm reduction, an evidence-based approach that mitigates the effects of substance use through prevention, treatment, and recovery, has recently been identified as an important facet of efforts in the US to address the opioid epidemic and substance use disorders. However, little is known about the behavioral health workforce working in harm-reduction settings. This article aims…
Increasing access to behavioral health providers in safety-net clinics is vital to ensuring behavioral health care equity. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the factors that better prepare behavioral health providers to practice in these settings. This article explores how experiences with medically-underserved populations during the education of behavioral health professionals affects their…
Despite evidence supporting the integration of pharmacists in team-based primary care, little information exists on the co-location of pharmacists with primary care physicians in the United States, and even less information on the factors associated with these models in primary care. This article analyzes the degree to which pharmacists are co-located with primary care practices…
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted access to and the delivery of behavioral health services for both patients and social work providers. This webinar describes how practicing social workers transitioned to tele-behavioral health services during the pandemic. Presenters discuss challenges, practice innovations, and ethical/equity-focused implications to increase the use tele-behavioral health beyond the pandemic. Recommendations to ensure…
Addressing the behavioral health crisis in the US requires understanding who comprises the behavioral health workforce, where they are distributed, and what policy and practice issues facilitate or inhibit the delivery of behavioral health care. During this webinar experts from the UNC Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center provided an overview of research efforts designed to…
In conjunction with other legislation, theĀ Patient Protection and Affordable Care ActĀ (ACA) is transforming medical care in the United States. The ACA is seeking to improve patient and population health outcomes while lowering costs. One mechanism is to incentivize the use of interprofessional health teams in primary and specialty care settings. These changes require reconfiguring and…
Social workers are flexible employees with a wide variety of skills that can be adapted to fit complex and highly integrated healthcare settings. Many integrated health teams have benefited from the involvement of social workers, but little research has been conducted that examines the roles that social workers perform in these settings. This report describes…
