While the Department strives to be an inclusive community of healers and educators, we have not fully achieved our goal of effectively engaging with the unique communities of Southern Arizona that also provide physical and behavioral health and wellness programming, in particular tribal nations, agencies, and rural college campuses serving primarily Hispanic communities, groups who have historically been excluded from many university-led initiatives. This challenge was noted in the Department’s 2020 Academic Program Review, in which the external reviewers described our minimal community engagement as a missed opportunity. These communities may benefit from enhanced access to educational, clinical, and research colleagues who are prepared to listen and learn with humility and collaborate on solutions.
To address that, we (Noshene Ranjbar, MD, Denise Rodriguez Esquivel, PhD, Jamie Manser, and I) applied for an internal UArizona Research, Innovation & Impact 2023 Community Engaged Partnerships grant, which we were awarded in mid-May. We were thrilled that our submission was granted the full amount we applied for, had very positive reviews, and that the auspicious timing corresponded with Mental Health Awareness Month.
We will present “Building Bridges, Healing Minds” to community participants as a mechanism for positive change in mental health education, mental healthcare delivery, and to provide professional opportunities in mental health careers. Our three-pronged approach includes:
Learning about the behavioral health education needs of both residents and clinical workforces (e.g., primary care, promotoras, nursing).- Understanding both the public’s and clinical provider’s (e.g., primary care, nursing) lived experiences accessing both mental health care, and the opportunities to engage in behavioral health research conducted at the University.
- Strategizing with students and education leaders at cooperative extension campuses about potential educational and scholarly partnerships with both our department and the College of Medicine that will support the educational and professional development of students interested in careers in behavioral health.
Given the stated interest in community work among our resident physicians, psychology interns, and medical students, we will invite up to two learners per month to participate in this community engagement initiative as an elective. Please share this information with your learners and encourage them to contact Noshene, Denise, Jamie, and me if they are interested. The potential returns on investment of this initiative include better health, an engaged community, and stakeholder driven ideas for sponsored research and professional development programs. We are eager to launch “Building Bridges, Healing Minds.” It is this need – expanding the mental health care resources in Arizona – that brought me here, and I am honored to do this work with a great Department.