New York telebehavioral health program to help homeless

Abstract

Making addiction treatment and mental health services accessible to homeless people via videoconferencing and email is the focus of a federally funded program at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), according to an RIT news release. The goal is to improve treatment outcomes for the underserved population by increasing the number of qualified clinical psychologists trained to deliver care via remote technology. RIT will train doctoral interns in its Priority Psychology Internship Program to work with clients at the House of Mercy homeless shelter in Monroe County, N.Y. The U.S. Graduate Psychology Education Program is funded by a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “We will be able to train interns to use innovations in technology and the use of telebehavioral health to target addiction and co‐occurring mental health, such as trauma, that is common among the homeless,” Caroline Easton, professor in RIT's School of Behavioral Health Sciences, and lead researcher on the grant. “This will provide a mechanism for easy access to care for the homeless.”