Addressing opioid misuse and mental health conditions through interdisciplinary workforce development programs

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to describe two innovative, interdisciplinary workforce development programs that aim to meet the needs of individuals who misuse opioids and may contend with mental health conditions in historically underserved communities. The article begins by highlighting the need for interdisciplinary workforce development programs for social work and occupational therapy graduate students as well as for peer support workers and community providers. Next, a detailed description of two federally-funded training programs is provided. The article concludes with recommendations for workforce development programs.

KEYWORDS:

• Motivational interviewing
• culturally and linguistically appropriate care
• screening brief intervention and referral to treatment [SBIRT]
• sensory-based interventions for trauma-informed care
• opioid overdose prevention: care model

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Opioid Workforce Expansion Program (OWEP) T98HP33434-01-00 and the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) MH01HP31394-03-00 grants. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position, or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.