By Maya Meinert
The Institute of Medicine has appointed Maria Aranda, an associate professor at the USC School of Social Work, to its Committee on the Mental Health Workforce for Geriatric Populations.
The committee’s goal is to determine the mental and behavioral health care needs of Americans over 65 years of age and to make policy and research recommendations for meeting those needs. In making those recommendations, Aranda and her fellow committee members will consider forces that shape the health care workforce, such as education, training, modes of practice, and the financing of public and private programs.
In making those recommendations, Aranda and her fellow committee members will consider forces that shape the health care workforce, such as education, training, modes of practice, and the financing of public and private programs.
“The implications for social work are huge,” Aranda said. “This work is important because social workers as a group comprise the largest field of mental health providers in the United States, and the recommendations we make will need to be implemented by a competent and well-trained mental health work force.”