The Behavioral Health Workforce Integration Service and Education (BHWISE)

Integrated Behavioral Health has been defined as “the care that results from a practice team of primary care and behavioral health clinicians, working together with patients and families, using a systematic and cost-effective approach to provide patient-centered care for a defined population. This care may address mental health and substance abuse conditions, health behaviors (including their contribution to chronic medical illnesses), life stressors and crises, stress-related physical symptoms, and ineffective patterns of health care utilization.”

Peek CJ. Lexicon for behavioral health and primary care integration: Concepts and definitions developed by expert consensus. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2013. Available from: https://integrationacademy.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/2020-06/Journey%20Toward%20a%20Lexicon.pdf. Accessed August 2, 2018.

Social workers are being utilized in integrated behavioral health settings more than ever before. As helping professionals who are already trained to understand individuals holistically, social workers play an important and unique role in the provision of integrated care.

That social workers comprise a large portion of the behavioral health provider workforce has already been established (Singer, Beck & Buche, 2017). However, it has also been demonstrated that the presence of social workers on integrated teams can enhance and improve the care that is being provided (Fraser, Lombardi, Wu, de Saxe Zerden, Richman and Fraher, 2018).

For more information on social work in integrated behavioral health, please consult the following resources:

• SAMSHA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions 
• NCBI, Social Workers as Behavioral Health Consultants in the Primary Care Clinic

References

• Fraser, M. W., Lombardi, B. M., Wu, S., De Saxe Zerden, L., Richman, E. L., & Fraher, E. P. (2018). Integrated Primary Care and Social Work: A Systematic Review. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research,9(2). doi:10.1086/697567
• Singer, P. M., Beck, A. J., & Buche, J. (2017, September). A workforce minimum data set for social workers. Retrieved from http://www.behavioralhealthworkforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/A-Workforce-MDS-for-Social-Workers-Policy-Brief_comments-ps.pdf 

History of the Behavioral Health Workforce Integration Service and Education Fellowships 

The Behavioral Health Workforce Integration Service and Education Fellowships began in 2014 with the  Lifespan Fellowship, the first of three multi-year, million-plus dollar behavioral health workforce training grants (BHWET) from the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA).  Within 11 years, the Lifespan Fellowship was able to graduate over 350 MSW students before ending in 2025.  Building off of the success of the Lifespan Fellowship, the University of Maryland School of Social Work developed additional fellowship programs under the BHWISE portfolio to meet the growing demand for mental health and substance abuse professionals including BHWISE Advance/Avance, a fellowship program that ran from 2023 to 2025 in partnership with the University of Maryland Baltimore County Department of Psychology.  Additional BHWISE Fellowship Programs include the Substance Use Disorders Intervention Fellowship (SUDIF) and Substance Use Disorder Workforce Expansion Fellowship (SUDWE).   

BHWISE fellowships are supported by federal and state grants as well as contributions from generous donors and supporters. Learn how you can support our fellowships and scholarships.