The Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health collected scope of practice and credential requirements for 10 behavioral health occupations across all 50 states and DC. These data were then transformed into 2 visualization tools and hosted on the Center’s website, allowing visitors to parse through the information…
As demand for greater and more diverse behavioral health care services increases, expansion of occupational scopes of practice (SOPs) has been suggested as one mechanism for enhancing workforce capacity. SOPs that are uniform for a given occupation across states, and complementary across behavioral health occupations, may help ensure that a full range of mental health…
The provision of care for rural and geographically isolated, vulnerable populations presents substantial challenges for the behavioral health workforce related to its supply and retention of clinicians. This issue is a barrier to providing accessible services to those most in need. This policy brief assesses behavioral health workforce supply and need, barriers to recruiting and…
The Affordable Care Act and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act have increased demand for behavioral health workers and changed the way policy makers regulate behavioral health scope of practice (SOP) to benefit patient care. Expansion of occupational SOPs is a potential solution for addressing the demand for increased diversity of services. This…
The use of telehealth has expanded considerably in the 21st century as new technologies have expanded the ways in which patients are able to receive care from their providers. Behavioral health has been no exception to this trend, yet state regulations and scopes of practice to regulate behavioral telehealth are often insufficient and lack uniformity….
The United Statesâ rural communities are vulnerable populations with less access to behavioral health care than urban communities, but the same or worse needs. This report helps to understand the characteristics of the behavioral health workforce in rural areas, the services offered by rural provider organizations, and the barriers these organizations face to providing services.ArrayReport…
A Health Resources and Services Administration report stated that 77% of US counties experienced severe psychiatrist shortages in 2017, and yet 1 in 5 American adults experience a mental illness in a given year. There is a pressing need to map the supply of prescribing psychiatric workforce. This report maps the supply of psychiatrists, advanced…
Authorizing nurse practitioners and physician assistants to prescribe medication-assisted treatment (MAT) has the potential to expand Americansâ access to opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment, as nurse practitioners are more likely to serve rural and Medicaid-eligible populations than physicians, and physician assistants specialize in expanding physiciansâ practice. This report helps to understand how the Comprehensive Addiction…
The field of behavioral health is experiencing a shortfall of licensed providers. Community health workers (CHWs) and peer recovery specialists (PRSs) function as critical components of the workforce that can mitigate access and treatment gaps. Increasing demand for behavioral health services, exacerbated by the ongoing opioid epidemic, has intensified the need for addiction counselors (ACs),…
After the passage of the Affordable Care Act and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, behavioral health coverage has expanded to cover more US citizens. However, access to behavioral health services remains an issue, owing in part to maldistribution of the workforce. The psychiatric workforce, in particular, is in the middle of a…
