Name
Expanding the Reach of Integrated Care: Launching a Behavioral Health Fellowship in a Primary Care Setting
Description

Fellowship programs have been proven to increase: job satisfaction, competence, leadership skills, career advancement and exposure to diverse professional networks. Primary Care behavioral health is a team-based approach to providing behavioral health interventions, managing behavioral health and supporting primary care teams. Unity Health Care implemented a two-year behavioral health fellowship to train newly graduated social workers in the PCBH model. The fellowship aims to expand the behavioral health workforce and patient access in underserved communities by the largest community health system in Washington, D.C.

Speakers
Tene' Washington, LICSW, PMH-C
Ayanna Johnson, LGSW
Joseph Pearson-Green, LGSW
Demetrius Smith, LGSW
Content Level
All Audience
Tags
Primary Care Behavioral Health Model, Training/Supervision, Workforce development
Session Type
Concurrent
Objective 1
Describe the role of behavioral health fellowships in expanding the workforce and reach of the Primary Care Behavioral Health Model
Objective 2
Identify key components necessary to launch a behavioral health fellowship in a primary care setting
Objective 3
Apply practical tools to begin developing a fellowship curriculum, didactics and implementation plan for their own organization.
Content Reference 1

Robinson, P.J., Reiter, J.T. (2017). Behavioral consultation and primary care: A guide to integrating services (3rd ed.) Springer International Publishing/Springer Nature

Content Reference 2

Blount, A. (ed). (1998). Integrated primary care: The future of medical and mental health collaboration

Content Reference 3

Carter, A. (2025, December) A workforce under pressure: Preparing the behavioral health workforce for today and tomorrow. www.thenationalcouncil.org

Content Reference 4

Center of Excellence for Integrated Health Solutions. (2025, February). The Comprehensive Health Integration (CHI) Framework. www.thenationalcouncil.org

Content Reference 5

National Center for Health Workforce Analysis. (2024, November). State of the behavioral health workforce, 2024. Health Resources and Services Administration