AN INFORMATIVE AND INSPIRING WEBINAR
Interdisciplinary Collaboration in MentalHealth Care: The Role of the Social Worker
Among the major providers of mental health services in the United States are professional social workers practicing privately and in community and hospital settings. Regardless of the setting, they collaborate with other disciplines and bring to the table a knowledge base, values,and a skill set that includes work with individuals, families, and communities and advocacy on their behalf. This webinar, held on February 27, 2023, elaborated on the role of social workers on interdisciplinary mental health teams, the challenges they face, and strategies for enhancing their role. The distinguished panelists included:
Dr. Barbara Jones is University Distinguished Teaching Professor and The Josleen and Frances Lockhart Memorial Professor of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work (SHSSW). She is also Associate Dean for Health Affairs and Director of the Institute for Collaborative Health Research and Practice at SHSSW. At Dell Medical School, she is the inaugural Chair of the Department of Health Social Work and Distinguished Professor of Health Social Work, Oncology, Population Health, and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
Dr. Davidman is a hospital-based psychologist working in the NYC public sector for over half a century. His specialties are individual and group psychotherapy and psychological testing. He has been the chief psychologist at Metropolitan Hospital and a faculty member of New York Medical College for most of his career.
Dr. Davidman is the president of the labor union representing NYC public sector psychologists and mental health counselors who work in various city agencies. He has been president of the New York State Psychological Association, president of the Manhattan Psychological Association, and president of the Forensic Psychology Division of the New York State Psychological
Association.
Jill Dovale is currently an outpatient oncology social worker at The Mount Sinai Hospital. She was the 2020-2021 Palliative Care Social Work Fellow at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and graduated with her MSW from New York University, where she was selected for the American Cancer Society Master's Training Grant in Clinical Oncology Social Work, the Zelda Foster MSW Fellowship in Palliative and End-of-Life Care, and the Adaptive Leadership Fellowship. Before pursuing social work as a career, Jill was a director of training and enablement in the social enterprise sector.