National Grand Challenges Initiative in Social Work Will Improve Behavioral Healthcare
Just recently, the National Grand Challenges for Social Work Initiative released the results from its second survey of college and university social work programs. The purpose of this survey was to determine how extensively these programs have implemented training on the 13 grand challenges, as described further below. These challenges represent major issues in American society. Training, research, and innovation on these challenges is of great interest to the behavioral healthcare field. Each is a key life determinant that can lead to trauma and adverse health consequences.
The 13 grand challenges focus on addressing negative life determinants that adversely impact personal health, wellbeing, and equity. There are 4 health challenges (ensure healthy development for youth, close the health gap, build healthy relationships to end violence, and advance long and productive lives); 4 wellbeing challenges (eradicate social isolation, end homelessness, create social responses to a changing environment, and harness technology for social good); and 4 equity challenges (promote smart decarceration, build financial capability and assets for all, reduce extreme economic inequality, and achieve equal opportunity and justice). The 13th grand challenge, eliminate racism, is a foundational task that relates to each of the other challenges.
Initial planning for the national initiative began in 2013. The effort was envisioned as a major, field-wide, transformative innovation intended to change social work research, training, policy, and practice. Concept papers were solicited from the field, choices were made by the planning committee, and a second round of refined papers was then solicited. The original 12 grand challenge topics were selected from among these latter submissions. The challenge of eliminating racism was added later. Actual field work began in 2016. A network of academicians and researchers was assembled for each challenge, with the goal of working together to make progress in addressing that specific issue.
The original survey of academic social work programs was conducted in 2018. All BSW, MSS/MSW, and PhD/DSW programs were included. The intent was to determine whether the schools included training on the grand challenges, and, if so, for which grand challenges and how. Schools were also asked about their need for assistance in implementing this training. The second survey, reported here, mirrored the first and was conducted in 2020 just before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Findings show that a large percent of the programs—almost 60%—incorporate the grand challenges into their training programs. These percents range from 54% for BSW programs to 60% for DSW programs. Overall, training on the grand challenges increased about 10% during the interval between the first and second surveys.
A second concern was to identify the inclusion of specific grand challenges in the training programs. Numbers ranged from highs of 88% for eliminating racism and 83% for achieving equal opportunity and justice, to 59% for ending homelessness and 57% for closing the health gap, to lows of 49% for promoting smart decarceration and 45% for eradicating social isolation. Importantly, of the programs that incorporate grand challenges, about 70% were doing so in their policy and practice training.
In addition to curricula, social work training programs also have incorporated the grand challenges into other areas. These include hosting or participating in academic conferences, collaborating with other academic units, sponsoring specific programming for students, and even incorporating the grand challenges into admission processes. Participating programs also have engaged other disciplines, professions, and educational programs in these efforts. More frequently mentioned areas include health, social science, and humanities.
Almost 90% of the responding programs requested assistance or support for integrating grand challenge content. Of these, the majority are seeking help with webinars and conferences, funding, and technical assistance.
What key messages should we take away?
First, we can anticipate that social work practice will change radically over time as a result of this initiative. This means that social workers will receive much better training in how to address the social and physical life determinants that cause trauma. Already, this is beginning to lead to a new focus on the critical importance of social care in social work.
Second, we can anticipate that efforts to solve these challenges will also promote more interdisciplinary and intersectoral training. For example, more interdisciplinary training already is being developed between public health and social work. Both the behavioral healthcare workplace and its workforce will benefit as a consequence.
Third, we can anticipate that the social work field itself will identify important breakthroughs as it continues to innovate new solutions to these challenges. For example, every DSW student at the University of Southern California is required to develop an innovative capstone project that addresses one of the challenges. We need to watch for the new solutions from this work that can improve behavioral healthcare.
This bold, creative, and much-needed initiative of the social work field is commendable.
Ron Manderscheid, PhD, is the former president and CEO of NACBHDD and NARMH, as well as an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the USC School of Social Work.
The views expressed in Perspectives are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Behavioral Healthcare Executive, the Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Learning Network, or other Network authors. Perspectives entries are not medical advice.
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