2017-61

Arizona State University
University Senate

Senate Motion #2017- 61

 

Motion Introduced by: Curriculum and Academic Programs Committee, Caroline Harrison, Chair

Date of First Reading: April 24, 2017

Date of Second Reading: August 28, 2017

Title of Motion: Request from the College of Health Solutions – for the establishment of a graduate certificate - Integrated Behavioral Health - Clinical

Action Requested: This curricular proposal has received all college, school, unit and university administrative approvals, and is being presented to the Senate for review and voting decision.   

Rationale: The proposed certificate in Integrated Behavioral Health - Clinical is designed to provide training to master’s level clinicians or students (e.g. social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists, clinical psychologists, allied health providers) who aspire to work in integrated primary care behavioral health. Integrated healthcare has expanded significantly in recent years in conjunction with the expansion of the Primary Care Medical Home (PCMH) model and other funding initiatives that reimburse primary care practices for better managing the whole-healthcare of their patients, including treatment of mental health concerns and enhanced behavior change coaching that result in improved health outcomes. Despite the growing need for behavioral health providers, there remain few opportunities for specific clinical training in the field. Currently, much of the primary care behavioral health workforce consists of individuals licensed as social workers and counselors, and psychologists (Kessler et al., 2013); however, few have received specific training in the model of Primary Care Behavioral Health, which requires clinicians to provide brief, focused interventions in primary care clinics for a wide scope of health concerns (e.g. diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc.). The proposed Integrated Behavioral Health- Clinical certificate is designed to provide students with a deeper understanding of models of primary care behavioral health, training on evidence-based approaches to behavioral healthcare, population based health, and medical literacy to ensure applicants have a working knowledge of the business of healthcare delivery in addition to appropriate treatment approaches.

 

Actions

Approved

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