Â鶹´«Ã½

Dr. Ann Chapleau, associate professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, and Dr. Jennifer Harrison, assistant professor in the School of Social Work, recently received a four-year, $1.8 million grant for behavioral health workforce education and training. Funding from  will support the Interprofessional Peer Education and Evidence for Recovery (I-PEER) project, a joint project of the Department of Occupational Therapy and the School of Social Work.

The I-PEER project connects the College of Health and Human Service with Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital, Southwest Michigan Behavioral Health, Recovery Institute of Southwest Michigan and other public providers, to prepare Â鶹´«Ã½s for interprofessional behavioral health practice, and to enhance the behavioral health workforce in southwest Michigan through innovative workforce development.

"The majority of the funding will be used to provide stipends to OT and social work master's Â鶹´«Ã½s in their final year field placements in these communities," says Dr. Harrison. "It removes financial burden from the University and Â鶹´«Ã½s, and allows Â鶹´«Ã½s to focus on their research and to make the most of their final year clinical experiences."

Through the funding, 28 Â鶹´«Ã½s will be eligible for $10,000 stipends each year. In addition, Â鶹´«Ã½s and behavioral health professionals will receive free training in collaboration with partner organizations. I-PEER will focus on specialty training areas of motivational interviewing, recovery orientation, and implementation of evidence-based practice.

"One of the project goals is to procure more fieldwork sites for our Â鶹´«Ã½s ," says Dr. Chapleau. "And, in turn, we hope to increase the number of Â鶹´«Ã½s who return to work in behavioral health practice after graduation."

An additional outcome from the free provider training will be overall improvement in the quality of training provided at the sites. The Goal Attainment Scale (GAS), a measure of client and Â鶹´«Ã½ learning and attainment, will be utilized along with other quantitative and qualitative measures of Â鶹´«Ã½ learning and workforce transformation.

Potential scheduling conflicts initially arose as there are differences in timing and duration of clinical experiences in the two programs. To make the project work, the Department of Occupational Therapy and School of Social Work have demonstrated agility and flexibility, adjusting requirements and schedules to make the collaboration work for Â鶹´«Ã½s and community partners.

Watch the College of Health and Human Services website for I-PEER program updates.