Social workers are vital to any community, especially in areas where mental health disorders have been invisible killers for quite some time. Through education, awareness, implementation of programs and access to professional support, the silence that plague diagnoses is dwindling. It’s the unsung heroes, those focusing on the human side of healthcare, that are making communities around the world rethink about the kind of care they’re providing.
Colorado Mesa University Associate Professor of Social Work and Director of Master of Social Work Program Dr. Michelle Sunkel has nearly two decades of clinical experience in the social work sphere. She’s worked in the emergency room, forensics, has been in and out of the courts, jails and prisons. She has sat on ethical boards, served as an outpatient therapist and has been a longtime advocate for policy change around mental health practices. Today, she’s helping shape the healthcare apparatus, educating future social workers, and somehow, still finds time to work in the emergency room every month conducting psychiatric evaluations.
“My job there is to assist the medical team. They’re going to work on the body and make sure that they are physically OK. My job is to make sure that they are mentally OK,” said Sunkel. “Do they need to go into the physiocratic hospital, do they need good case management wrap around services, do they need therapy, what family is involved and how does their story connect to what their needs are. So really meeting the person where they are at, providing immediate services, lots of de-escalation and working with the medical team so they can see more than just the medical body that they are treating.”
社会工作者面临的最大挑战之一today, according to Sunkel, are resources and funding. Sometimes the psychiatric hospital is full, and they have to send someone for emergency psychiatric care out of town, which is often times to the Front Range.
“We are now taking someone 5 hours away, away from the world they know,” said Sunkel. “It’s expensive and then they have to start all over once they’re back. They have to retell their story and reconnect with a therapist.”
她说,这些挑战推动西部科罗拉多公关actitioners and programs to get creative with how they support those in need. Many organizations on the Western Slope play an integral role in helping address a majority of the challenges that exist.
CMU plays a role as well; one way is through the development of the Masters in Social Work (MSW) program.
“With the MSW program we’re able to implement and support new clinicians, well-trained clinicians, that will hopefully stay in this community and fill-in some of those gaps,” said Sunkel.
Sunkel’s clinical experience not only helps her students serve the Grand Valley better once they become certified social workers. Her efforts also change the lives of those suffering from various mental health disorders, specifically individuals who find themselves behind bars. She worked to get people with psychiatric mental health issues out of prisons when their crime was directly related to their mental health.
“Getting them in treatment best serves them than sitting in jails and prisons. It also saves us hundreds of thousands of dollars a year,” added Sunkel.”
Sunkel’s approach to solving various challenging issues have been influenced by her time both in the states and abroad. Sunkel volunteered internationally with CMU students in Uganda and worked with individuals who were exposed to human trafficking, HIV/AIDs and provided psychoeducation to community members in high risk communicable disease areas.
“I took 10 CMU BSW students to Uganda. They jumped on an airplane, flew across the world with me and spent three weeks in the country. It was a great opportunity for students to use their skills in real-time and learn about a different culture, a different community.”
And a different healthcare system.
“It was a great aha moment,” said Sunkel.
Sunkel’s efforts to stop the suffer in silence culture is the unsung hero we all need. To join the human side of healthcare visitcoloradomesa.edu/social-work/graduate.
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