Workforce Solutions Jam | Extending the Behavioral Health Workforce: Alaska’s Behavioral Health Aide Model

Addressing the workforce shortages in rural and frontier communities has been a decades-long concern. Rural and frontier communities have unique needs and require trusted relationships with a workforce that represents the communities it serves. The Behavioral Health Aide (BHA) program in Alaska was initiated in 2009 by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. Using a “counselor-in-every-village” approach, it was designed to provide behavioral health prevention, treatment and recovery services in rural Alaska, where communities may have 100 or fewer residents. The model has grown to a statewide strategy with a formal training curriculum, Medicaid reimbursement and solid evaluation and outcomes. 

Join us to hear BHA’s process of development, lessons learned and how Alaska has supported other communities by scaling this solution. As Rural Health Transformation efforts are launching nationally, this is a timely discussion of what works in rural and tribal communities.   

This final session in our Extending the Behavioral Health Workforce series will:

• Discuss the need to expand the workforce by engaging community members in meeting behavioral health needs.  
• Explore the Alaska BHA model and how individuals are identified, trained and paid for supporting communities.  
• Share the outcomes and evaluation of the model.  

Discuss lessons learned and how the model’s core components can be scaled in other states and communities.

The Workforce Solutions Jam is a monthly webinar to build national momentum and encourage collaboration. It is hosted as a partnership between the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, Health Management Associates and The College for Behavioral Health Leadership.