Grant supports community mental health services, student training

Grant supports community mental health services, student training

East Carolina University's Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences and Brody School of Medicine are joint recipients of a $1.3 million grant to fund critical mental and behavioral health services while training the next generation of providers.

The grant funds the continuation of hands-on training for clinical health and pediatric school psychology doctoral students, and provides free, integrated mental and behavioral health care services, including services for substance use disorders in high-need areas. This specifically applies to resources and services for the people of eastern North Carolina, and in the area of opioid use disorders, including prevention, assessment and treatment.

Dr. Robert A. Carels, professor and director of clinical training in the Department of Psychology, and Dr. Marissa Carraway, clinical associate professor in psychology and director of behavioral medicine in the Department of Family Medicine, are leading the three-year project. The project, "Prepare for practice: Training future psychologists to address the opioid epidemic and behavioral health needs across a continuum of integrated care settings," is funded through a Graduate Psychology Education Program grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). ECU is the only organization in North Carolina to receive funding from the program this grant cycle.

Carraway said the enhanced access to behavioral health and substance use-related care for residents is important. She said many of these individuals are underinsured, lack access to treatment due to their location in rural, vulnerable or underserved communities, and often do not have access to mental health care. These individuals may experience significant chronic health and behavioral health needs that they seek treatment for when visiting their primary care physician.

"Having behavioral health providers and mental health care available for patients in a primary care setting meets them where they are at and provides access to care for people who otherwise might not be able to find it," she said.

Annual funding from the grant provides training in patient care for six clinical health and pediatric school psychology doctoral students, which brings the number of ECU students trained through these grants to 60. This year, students are training at three sites, including ECU's Department of Family Medicine (the primary site), ECU's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine and the Pitt County Detention Center.

Laura Palmo said she has always had an interest in serving underserved and underrepresented communities. In the future, she plans to continue minimizing barriers and providing integrative care services that are accessible to all patients.

"Many of us are very grateful that we have this grant. It helps destigmatize mental health for everyone in the community and is a great resource for eastern North Carolina," she said. "In a rural space, particularly where there are a lot of underserved patients and a lot of mental stigma as well, trying to find a space like a primary care physician is an integral part of meeting the patients where they are at."

Palmo said patients often have an established connection with their primary care physician, and if they can receive access to the mental health care they need from their primary care physician when they are feeling stressed, anxious or depressed, that is important - especially when mental health care may be difficult to find otherwise.

"This is the space where behavioral health can integrate and be able to collaborate with other providers in a way that makes it more accessible for patients," she said.

Working with Carels, Carraway and other behavioral health team members, including Dr. Patricia Huerta, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine, is an added benefit to the students participating in the project.

"There is a lot to learn," Glock said. "It's a developmental approach, so we get to work with them a lot in the beginning and receive very close supervision, which makes us better psychologists in the future."

Craig said, "They have a lot of expertise. It is pretty unique that we can get such training. I have been grateful for everything I have been able to learn from them, even in the simple day-to-day passing conversations."

Palmo said she also appreciates working under the faculty and staff mentorship.

"It has been great getting to hear about their expertise when it comes to the types of patients that they serve," she said. "Being able to gain insight and guidance based on their training, and seeing how they adapt their clinical skills to an environment where you have to be adaptable - whether to the patient's needs or the provider's needs - is important. It is not something you tend to see frequently. Being able to get their experience is very valuable."

Throughout their participation in the project, students are learning to be culturally sensitive and develop trauma-informed approaches that include attention to social factors of health across a patient's life. The students use both face-to-face and tele-health delivery methods with patients of all ages, facilitate group interventions for individuals at the Pitt County Detention Center, and work with K-12 students who are experiencing or are at risk of behavioral health symptoms.

"Ultimately, this experience will continue to increase the number of psychologists with experience practicing in integrated, interdisciplinary team-based settings and enhance patient care through greater access to mental health services, including assessment, prevention and treatment for substance use disorders," Carels said.

This marks the fourth consecutive successful submission of an HRSA grant for ECU and the 10th year for Carels and Carraway's administration of the award, which continues the work of previous awards from 2016, 2019 and 2022.

All mental health services are provided free of charge through the grant. Current patients, or community members who would like to become established patients at ECU Family Medicine, have access to all professionals and services, including those that make up the behavioral health team.