New York, NY (PRWEB) October 07, 2015
Kognito, a leader in immersive learning simulations that enable users to develop skills and assess their competencies in managing challenging conversations, announced today that it will be co-presenting with NORC at the University of Chicago, one of the largest independent social research organizations in the United States, at the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Annual Program Meeting, being held October 15 – 18th in Denver, Colorado.
At the meeting, Kognito and NORC will present a Hot Topic session entitled, “Integrating Adolescent Substance Abuse Screening, Brief Intervention and Treatment Throughout Social Work Education,” on October 16th at 11:00 a.m. at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel, Tower Building. The session will address how the SAMHSA-backed prevention procedure of Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) has been proven cost-effective and is one of the most widely-supported prevention frameworks, but lacks support in social work graduate and undergraduate programs, despite the fact that alcohol and substance abuse prevention programs have a large body of supporting evidence.
To address this, NORC at the University of Chicago has been funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to increase training opportunities in adolescent SBIRT within undergraduate and graduate social work and nursing programs. In October 2014, NORC partnered with the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), Center for Clinical Social Work, and American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) to support the integration of adolescent SBIRT into required course work for their students.
The Hot Topic session co-presented with Kognito will educate CSWE members about adolescent SBIRT generally and update them on the current grant initiative, which will partner with schools to integrate SBIRT throughout social work and nursing. The expansion of insurance coverage for preventative care and substance use services by the Affordable Care Act and parity legislation makes approaches like SBIRT increasingly relevant to social work educators and practitioners. This session will cover three emerging and important topics regarding the integration of Adolescent SBIRT into social work education. These areas include challenges and recommendations, use of interactive platforms as learning tools, and the implementation/administration of the SBIRT model into schools of social work.
In addition, Kognito and NORC will be hosting a sidebar event on Thursday, October 15th from 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. (to provide additional information on the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation grant project, and to demonstrate a key component of the project). Kognito’s Adolescent SBIRT simulation is designed to prepare nurses and social workers to screen adolescents for substance use, perform early interventions using motivational interviewing techniques, and refer patients to treatment. This simulation will be made available to schools of social work and nursing starting in January, 2016.
“We are excited to be working with NORC at the University of Chicago to support the integration of adolescent substance use assessment and early intervention into required coursework in undergraduate and graduate curricula for health professions,” said Cyrille Adam, research analyst at Kognito. “The CSWE meeting is a terrific opportunity for us to share our knowledge and experience integrating SBIRT into social work education, and allow attendees to actually do some hands-on testing of the simulation in development.”
About CSWE:
The Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting (APM) is the premier national meeting in the social work education field. More than 2,500 social work educators, administrators, practitioners, students, and other key decision makers from across the country and around the world attend APM each year, making it the largest gathering of its kind. The 2015 conference theme, Social Work on the Frontiers of Change, acknowledges that social work stands on the edge of opportunity and faces unique challenges for future generations. Uncharted frontiers in health care, immigration, changing demographics, income inequality, structural racism, and the changing global economy necessitate that social work advance and develop new skills and methods to enhance the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities. For more, please visit http://www.cswe.org/Meetings/2015APM/77152/77172.aspx.
About NORC at the University of Chicago:
NORC at the University of Chicago is an independent research organization headquartered in downtown Chicago with additional offices on the University of Chicago’s campus, the DC Metro area, Atlanta, Boston, and San Francisco. NORC also supports a nationwide field staff as well as international research operations. With clients throughout the world, NORC collaborates with government agencies, foundations, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and businesses to provide data and analysis that support informed decision-making in key areas, including health care, education, economics, crime, justice, and energy. NORC’s decades of leadership and experience in data collection, analysis, and dissemination—coupled with deep subject matter expertise—provide the foundation for effective solutions. Learn more about Integrating Adolescent SBIRT Throughout Social Work & Nursing School Education at: http://www.sbirteducation.com
About Kognito:
Founded in 2003, Kognito is a leader in designing immersive practice experiences that develop and assess the competencies of users in transforming challenging health conversations into opportunities to drive meaningful and sustainable changes in attitude, self-efficacy, and behavior. Kognito’s award-winning online and mobile experiences use emotionally responsive virtual humans to simulate real-life conversations within a risk-free and adaptive environment that provide personalized feedback and in-depth analytics. Kognito uses a science-driven, research-proven approach and currently has more than 450 clients in education, government, and healthcare settings. The company has been recognized for its evidence-based programs, and is the only company with digital simulations listed in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) and National-Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP). Learn more or access demos at http://www.kognito.com.