A vision forward in substance abuse education: The training and development of advanced substance use disorder counselors within diverse communities and populations

 

Project Description:

In 2017, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded the University of Utah Substance Use Disorder Treatment Training Certificate (SUDTTC) Program a grant to educate and train people to work as professional substance use disorder counselors in medically underserved areas and/or with medically underserved populations in the state of Utah.

 

Abstract:

In recent years, the rate of substance use and misuse among the general population in the state of Utah has become more prevalent and is increasing at a time where there is a shortage of substance use disorder counselors, notably in Medically Underserved Areas (MUA) and with Medically Underserved Populations (MUP) in the Salt Lake City Metropolitan Area (SLCMA).

 

Given the need for substance use counselors in the SLCMA MUA/MUP, the Substance Use Disorder Treatment Training Certificate Program (SUDTTCP), at the University of Utah College of Social Work, has over the course of the past five years provided paraprofessional and undergraduate students with educational didactic and experiential learning (i.e., field practicum placement) opportunities with the goal of training and preparing them for a career as a licensed substance use disorder counselor.

 

Compounding this problem further is the relatively limited number of diverse field instructors and field practicum placements in SLC MUA/MUP. In the state of Utah, less than 10% of the behavioral health workforce identifies as a racial and ethnic minority, however almost 20% of the general population identifies as a racial and ethnic minority. Also, while there are numerous field practicum placements located throughout the SLCMA, less than 15% of the SUDTTCP field practicum placements are located in SLCMA MUA/MUP.

 

Given these challenges, the objectives of this project are to: 

• Expand and enhance the applied knowledge and skills of substance use disorder counselor students through SUDTTCP educational didactic and experiential learning (i.e., field practicum placement) opportunities.
• Increase the number and diversity of substance use disorder counselor students and graduates in the SUDTTCP.
• Increase the number of experiential learning (i.e., field practicum placements) opportunities in SLCMA MUA/MUP where substance use disorder counselor students are doing their field practicum placements.

 

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Want to learn more about the University of Utah College of Social Work’s Substance Use Disorder Treatment Training Certificate (SUDTTC) Program go to,https://socialwork.utah.edu/certificates/substance-use-disorder-treatment-training.php

 

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