University Of Alaska Anchorage: Project BLENDS Graduate Collaboration To Promote Early Childhood Mental Health

Press release from the University of Alaska Anchorage:

October 26, 2021

As early as 2013, education researchers have called for increased interdisciplinary
personnel preparation training, with evidence supporting its increased outcomes for
children with disabilities dating back even further to 2009. This need is especially
important in Alaska, where only a few early childhood education programs are available
at UAA and UAF, despite it being identified as one of the highest workforce needs across the state.

Filling the need for advanced training is Project BLENDS, a new interdisciplinary
program at UAA consisting of principal investigator Hattie Harvey, Ph.D., associate
professor of psychology, with senior personnel Mary Dallas Allen, Ph.D., professor
of social work, and Cary Moore, Ph.D., program director of occupational therapy. Rounding
out the team is Karen Gallagher, Ph.D., program director of speech-language pathology,
who stepped into the position originated by term assistant professor Heidi Feuerhelm. 

“Foundationally, 90% of brain development occurs within those first years of birth
through age three,” said Harvey. “To be successful later in life, those experiences
for an infant and toddler to feel safe, secure and have responsive adults is critical.
Anything we can do to build capacity for service providers to not just provide direct
support, but also use a collaborative approach to support caregivers in promoting
social-emotional development, ultimately benefits the child and their family.”

Project BLENDS will develop a training model at UAA for four overlapping service disciplines
in order to serve young children with high-intensity social-emotional needs and their
families. Over the course of five years, 32 scholars — eight per year, two per program
— from the Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders, Master of Social
Work, Master of Science in Clinical Psychology and Doctor of Occupational Therapy
will prepare to meet a state-identified workforce need for qualified, related service
personnel.

Funded by a $1.1 million grant awarded in October 2021 from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education,
Project BLENDS stands unique among other awardees in its focus on interdisciplinary
collaboration among four disciplines (the grant required only two disciplines). According
to Harvey, the need to work together and wear multiple hats isn’t merely aspirational
but a necessity given the more limited access to resources available in Alaska’s rural
communities. 

“Integrating the four programs made sense because we have such limited capacity, particularly
in rural Alaska,” said Harvey. “The speech language pathologist might be the key provider
to a family or community, so they’re also having to integrate those occupational therapy
goals and developmental goals, as well as support child-caregiver relationships. For
those providers, having more of an interdisciplinary understanding is going to better
build capacity to serve those families and children.”

To prepare applicants for an environment of collaboration, Project BLENDS scholars
will spend their final academic year participating in shared courses, assignments
and field experiences that focus on four competency areas developed using the Early Childhood Cross Disciplinary Guide: interdisciplinary collaboration and coordination, family-centered practices, cross-discipline
evidence-based practices and interdisciplinary professionalism. Integration of infant
and early childhood mental health principles, such as responsive parent-child interactions,
will be emphasized to support the needs of Alaska’s families and young children.

Beyond the impressive coordination required to build such a multifaceted program between
four programs, community partnerships played an equally pivotal role in securing the
original grant — 14 letters of support were written by organizations including the
Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, RurAL CAP and the Bristol Bay
Native Association. And as potential members of the Project BLENDS community advisory
board and future employers of Project BLENDS graduates, those partnerships are more
crucial than ever in determining the  program’s success.

“Each graduate program has its own competencies, accreditation standards and internship
requirements. So to find a way in which we can add shared experiences to these really
robust programs was tricky, but was really key,” said Harvey. “This is a good example
that collaboration across colleges can be successful. Ultimately it’s for the benefit
of preparing students to provide high-quality early childhood services. That's really
what it’s all about.”

This press release was produced by the University of Alaska Anchorage. The views expressed here are the author’s own.