Graduate Psychology Education Programs - The University of St. Thomas (UST) Graduate School of Professional Psychology (GSPP), (Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota) will develop and implement the Community-focused Integrative Behavioral Healthcare (CIBH) training program. This program will expand and enhance didactic and experiential training for doctoral psychology students and post-doctoral residents across multiple areas of focus to better meet the needs of high-need, high-demand communities, including historically marginalized cultural communities, rural areas, and under-resourced urban neighborhoods. The training program will address important community needs. In Hennepin County, where many CIBH training sites are located, a 2022 survey found that over half of residents who identified a need for mental health services delayed or did not access the services they needed. Untreated substance and opioid use disorder (SUD/OUD) is an even larger need: of the estimated 500,000 Minnesotans experiencing addiction, 80% will not receive treatment. By providing doctoral students and post-doctoral residents with a significant financial stipend, the program will help reduce barriers to program completion and ultimately, the pursuit of careers working in community settings serving under-resourced communities. During the three-year grant period, the CIBH Training Program will: (1) provide two postdoctoral CIBH Fellows and 10 doctoral student CIBH Scholars with robust didactic and experiential training preparing them to work in integrated primary care settings; (2) enhance courses that benefit all GSPP students; (3) increase faculty skills to instruct students on best practices in integrated care and to advise students with interest in working in integrated settings; and (4) expand GSPP’s partnerships with organizations serving under-resourced communities. Postdoctoral CIBH Fellows will train at two UST sites, increasing their capacity to offer SUD/OUD prevention and treatment services. The new postdoctoral fellow positions will be added to the operating budgets of the respective divisions and will support supervision for future cohorts of CIBH Scholars. The CIBH program will enhance GSPP’s current didactic training by adding a new SUD/OUD course, revising an existing integrated health elective, establishing a practicum seminar for the CIBH Scholars, expanding interprofessional experiential learning activities, and creating the CIBH Training Series, a 15-session series of workshops co-developed with community partner training sites to learn about integrated care approaches. New didactic and experiential learning will be further reinforced by a practicum seminar for the trainee cohort. GSPP faculty will also participate in the CIBH Training Series and other professional development through the project. The organizations that have agreed to be partners in this project include: a health care system serving rural Minnesota communities with integrated tele-behavioral health services; a pediatric clinic serving Native American children and adolescents; a recovery program providing culturally responsive services and supports to a growing Muslim and immigrant/refugee population; and a clinic located in a culturally diverse, low-income neighborhood in Minneapolis. At each of these sites, trainees will gain direct experience working with other disciplines, including social workers, physicians, nurses, and psychiatrists. In addition, all trainees will participate in interprofessional education activities that will be developed or enhanced through the grant. The program will provide significant financial support to trainees, approximately $69,000 for CIBH Fellows and $44,000 for CIBH Scholars, in the form of stipends, tuition remission, conference travel, and other support. The program is seeking priority funding for its demonstrated ability to prepare students for integrative care settings and funding preference for its high percentage of graduates working in medically underserved communities
