By Maya Meinert
USC School of Social Work faculty have made the rounds in the nation’s capital, participating in high-level discussions and sharing their knowledge in veterans affairs, behavioral health, child welfare and geriatric care…
Associate Professor Maria Aranda presented findings in a Congressional briefing from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report “The Mental Health and Substance Use Workforce for Older Adults: In Whose Hands?,” which outlined the need for a workforce appropriately trained to deal with the needs of an aging population.
Because Aranda is the only social worker appointed to the IOM Committee on the Mental Health Workforce for Geriatric Populations with multiple roles as researcher, educator and clinician, the NASW, which sponsored the briefing, invited her to present the committee’s findings.
Aranda said there is a general lack of understanding of who constitutes this group of providers, mainly because of the varying levels of training and education.