Essential healthcare for underserved communities

According to the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), a “shortage designation identifies an area, population, or facility experiencing a shortage of health care services." OIBHTI trainees were selected on the basis of experience counseling children, adolescents, and/or emerging adults and, at the master’s level, for accepting field placements at sites designated by HRSA as shortage areas.

Medically underserved community (MUC) designations included mental health and primary care healthcare profession shortage areas (HPSAs), medically underserved areas (MUAs), medically underserved populations (MUPs), and rural areas. Through OIBHTI, children, adolescents, and emerging adults who may lack direct access to primary care or in-person mental health counseling gain connections to vital holistic healthcare via telehealth.

Community engaged clinical practice & research 

Given OSU’s status as a land grant institution, “the radical ideas of public education, scientific research, and engagement with the public are written into its mission." OSU’s Counseling program has sustained community partnerships with schools, school-based mental health programs, community-based mental health clinics, and integrated care clinics that provide supervised counseling opportunities to school and clinical mental health counseling students.

OIBHTI will build on this foundation by working closely with agency- and school-based site supervisors and increasing partnerships with school-based health clinics and agencies offering integrated behavioral health (IBH). To address the inequities in access to bilingual counseling for Oregon residents who identify as Latine, sites with at least 15% Latine enrollment will be prioritized. In 2025-26, OIBHTI partnered with 8 community sites serving children, adolescents, and emerging adults at risk of trauma or co-occurring disorders.

Research on access to healthcare shows that social determinants of health (SDOH) like neighborhood, environment, and socioeconomic and factors like racial and ethnic identities and class status have significant impacts on engagement and retention in care and on mental and physical health outcomes. OIBHTI was designed to take a prevention-focused approach to SDOH by teaching trainees about evidence-based practices well-suited to IBH systems like screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT). Developmentally appropriate screening for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and common mental health concerns like depression and anxiety can help inform counselor interventions of client-centered counseling and referrals.

By providing early intervention and culturally-responsive counseling to younger clients and their families in IBH settings, including counseling in Spanish and English by bicultural trainees, OIBHTI can reduce mental health stigma in families and communities who may not traditionally access mental healthcare. Program evaluation will inform rapid-cycle quality improvement throughout the lifespan of the project, with team members meeting monthly to review key data points and adjust approaches to training, community engagement, and service delivery as needed.

Potential research studies include a multi-site program evaluation, examination of trainees’ and supervisors’ attitudes toward evidence-based practice, assessment of IBH competencies, and examination of the impact of counselor interventions on client outcomes in IBH settings. Communication of key program outcomes to trainees, community partners, and other College and University stakeholders will demonstrate OIBHTI’s impact on the provision of integrated behavioral health services to children, adolescents, and emerging adults (ages 18-25) in Oregon.