UnitedHealth Group and University of California San Diego Teaming to Help Grow and Diversify State’s Mental Health Workforce
October 20 2020 - 11:57AM
Business Wire
- Four-year, $4 million UnitedHealth Group grant will help UC
San Diego to grow and diversify the workforce of child and
adolescent psychiatrists
- Initiative addresses a projected critical shortage of
psychiatrists in the state of California
- A similar grant relationship with UC San Francisco, also
being announced today, will address mental health workforce needs
in Northern California
The University of California San Diego and UnitedHealth Group
are announcing a new four-year, $4 million grant collaboration to
expand the mental health workforce in California. Led by UC San
Diego School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry and funded by
UnitedHealth Group, the collaboration aims to diversify the
pipeline of child and adolescent psychiatrists and encourage
medical students to pursue careers in this field through the
introduction of novel learning opportunities, individualized
mentorship, scholarships, and financial education support for
participating residents. Together, these initiatives will help
create an inclusive, skilled workforce representing the changing
social, racial and economic demography of California’s children,
youth and families.
In addition to the collaboration with UC San Diego, UnitedHealth
Group has also awarded a four-year, $4 million grant to the
University of California, San Francisco, to grow the pipeline of
diverse child and adolescent mental health clinicians. That grant
will create new clinical learning opportunities and mentoring
supports for child and adolescent psychiatry fellows and
psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners, as well as provide
scholarships and financial supports to underrepresented medical and
nursing students pursuing child and adolescent mental health
careers.
California has a mental health professional workforce shortage
that is projected to worsen unless meaningful action is taken to
address it, according to the California Future Health Workforce
Commission. There are only 13 child and adolescent psychiatrists
per 100,000 children in California, compared to 75 pediatricians
per 100,000 children. By 2028, California will have only about half
of the psychiatrists it will need to serve residents in need of
treatment, and 28% fewer psychologists, social workers and
counselors than necessary to meet the projected demand, according
to the UC San Francisco’s Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy
Studies. In some communities and regions, the shortages will be
even worse.
“When children don’t receive care for a treatable mental health
condition, they can’t reach their full potential,” said Senate
President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego). “This
collaboration between UnitedHealth Group and UC San Diego is an
investment in our future. It will help to build a diverse health
workforce that will better serve the mental health needs of
California’s youth, and specifically, our teenagers.”
UnitedHealth Group intends to help build a stronger community of
students pursuing careers in child and adolescent psychiatry – and
ultimately help grow a health workforce that is well-prepared to
address the distinct mental health needs of children and youth in
California.
“Providing the right care at the right time is every bit as
important for mental health as it is physical health,” said Dr.
Amar Desai, CEO of Optum Care California, a UnitedHealth Group
company. “By expanding and diversifying the mental health
workforce, UnitedHealth Group intends to do its part to help
increase access to needed care and make the health system work
better for everyone.”
It is estimated that up to 1 in 5 children living in the United
States experiences a mental disorder in a given year, according to
the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine report. The
teen suicide rate has increased 34% in California in the past four
years for adolescents ages 15-19, according to America’s Health
Rankings 2020 Health of Women and Children Data Update.
New programs enabled by the grant and led by UC San Diego School
of Medicine are already up and running, including a new summer
immersion program for first- and second-year medical students to
introduce them to the field of child and adolescent psychiatry.
“We want to provide the exposure as well as the support that is
necessary to succeed in medicine,” said Desiree Shapiro, M.D.,
associate clinical professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at
UC San Diego School of Medicine and director of the Child and
Adolescent Inclusive Excellence Summer Program. “The program’s
learning opportunities showcase the incredible career choice of
child and adolescent psychiatry and also emphasize collaborative
learning from one another and our communities. The medical journey
is arduous and creating an understanding and encouraging network
has the power to alleviate stress, promote medical student
well-being and inspire future leaders to use their voices to
positively impact their communities and mental health systems of
care.”
The Child and Adolescent Inclusive Excellence Summer Program has
built clear pathways to encourage medical students and psychiatry
residents to choose child and adolescent psychiatry as a future
career. With the support of UnitedHealth Group, the program has
enabled students to overcome the varying obstacles that stand in
the way of that choice.
“Grants, such as that from UnitedHealth Group, help us achieve a
shared goal of preparing tomorrow’s health care leaders to serve
our increasingly diverse and interconnected communities,” said UC
San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla. “Support like this allows UC
San Diego’s health community of faculty, staff and students to
remain at the forefront of combating mental illness through
discovery, educating future generations of scientists and
clinicians and delivering best treatments. And that is in all of
our best interests.”
About UnitedHealth Group
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) is a diversified health care
company dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and
helping make the health system work better for everyone.
UnitedHealth Group offers a broad spectrum of products and services
through two distinct platforms: UnitedHealthcare, which provides
health care coverage and benefits services; and Optum, which
provides information and technology-enabled health services. For
more information, visit UnitedHealth Group at
www.unitedhealthgroup.com or follow @UnitedHealthGrp on
Twitter.
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The United Health Foundation Jenifer McCormick
jenifer_mccormick@uhg.com, 952-936-1917
UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH)
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