School of Social Work wins $1.8 million grant to improve access to behavioral health

The UNC Charlotte School of Social Work has received a $1.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to expand integrated care practices across the Charlotte region.

Awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a sub agency of HHS, the grant supports improved access to behavioral health services through high levels of collaboration between social work, nursing, medicine and other health care providers.

To achieve this, the School of Social Work will use the grant funding to launch the Charlotte Regional Integrated Behavioral Health Scholars (CRIBHS) program. For the next four years, the program will provide stipends to 28 Master of Social Work students enrolled in their advanced year of field practicum. The CRIBHS program will host a regional conference on integrated and behavioral health care, provide training to social work practicum instructors and increase collaboration between the UNC Charlotte schools of Social Work and Nursing.

Shanti Kulkarni, associate professor of social work, will lead efforts to train students and practitioners in integrated care practices.

“Integrated care means health and behavioral health providers work together to serve the whole person. That’s the way you get better health outcomes,” said Kulkarni. “For example, many patients can benefit from behavioral health services such as stress management that also improve their ability to manage chronic illnesses like diabetes or heart disease.”

Experts noted that most health care professionals are trained in disciplinary “silos,” with little attention to or understanding of the roles of other health disciplines. According to Kulkarni, CRIBHS is “a multi-leveled intervention that will increase capacity to provide integrated health care by training future social workers and nurses, supporting field sites, and disseminating best practices.”

Established in 2002, the UNC Charlotte School of Social Work continues to grow in stature nationally. The Master of Social Work program is currently the highest ranked in the United States without an affiliated Ph.D. program.

The CRIBHS program grant comes on the heels of a separate four-year, $2 million HRSA grant. The latter grant provides full academic scholarships for graduate students from disadvantaged and underrepresented backgrounds who are preparing for careers in behavioral health care.