Two USC professors argue that tackling health care issues from the crossroads of social work and nursing can help us better understand their sociocultural causes—and deploy new, more effective solutions for addressing them.

While Ellen Olshansky, professor and chair of the Department of Nursing, and Suzanne Wenzel, the Richard M. and Ann L. Thor Professor in Urban Social Development and chair of the Department of Adult Mental Health and Wellness, both at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, appear to be driven by different perspectives, their professional careers have illuminated the need for interprofessional collaboration that harnesses diverse insights in order to develop innovative solutions.

For National Interprofessional Health Care Month, Olshansky and Wenzel emphasize the importance of collaboration in health care and the ways in which complex health issues benefit from a more holistic, contextual approach.

USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work: How has interdisciplinary work been important to your careers, at USC and previously?

Ellen Olshansky: I was attracted to USC for its open approach to combining social work and nursing. I began my career in social work, earning an undergraduate degree in social work from UC Berkeley. But after graduating, I embarked on a career in nursing, earning undergraduate and graduate degrees from UC San Francisco. While nursing has been my career for over three decades, my practice has always been informed by my foundation in social work.

Suzanne Wenzel: My background is in community psychology, which is very prevention-oriented. An interdisciplinary mindset is crucial within this field because we can’t examine problems like mental health outside of the context of the community in which the individuals experiencing those symptoms live. What’s more, in addressing social challenges, we need to collaborate across disciplines. This includes involving experts in the community who may not hold formal degrees, but have profound lived experience and knowledge to share with those of us grounded in institutional research.

USC: Are there any particular problems you’ve grappled with during your careers that have benefited from an interprofessional approach?

SW: There has traditionally been a separation between addressing mental health, substance use problems and physical health. Yet when we address these issues through an integrated, coordinated, interprofessional approach—both on an individual and societal scale—it can lead to much greater symptom reduction, and therefore much more cost-effective treatment. For persons experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity in particular, multifaceted solutions must include safe and stable housing.

EO: In nursing and health care in general, I’ve encountered a similar divide between approaches to mental and physical health. But social determinants of health have such an effect on people's lives that these issues must be looked at in an integrated way. One example is the intersection of women’s health care and the criminal justice system. Incarcerated women have specific healthcare needs—and pregnant incarcerated women have very special needs. In these cases, collaborating with professionals who have a deep understanding of the ins and outs of the justice system is incredibly valuable.

USC: How has this more holistic approach been channeled into the USC nursing curriculum?

EO: At USC and across the academia and practice settings, we’re increasingly investigating the impact of social determinants of health. Major organizations like the American Nursing Association and the American Academy of Nursing now incorporate it into their strategic planning. The nursing program at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work is unique because we directly collaborate with the social work program and emphasize the importance of social determinants of health. Nursing students are required to take two classes in the school of social work as part of their nursing curriculum. Eventually, we’d like to develop this holistic approach even more.

USC: Has this approach proven successful in your field of social work as well? How can women’s health be approached through this lens of interprofessional collaboration?

SW: I’ve been involved with a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation supported project led by the Downtown’s Women’s Center called Spreading Community Accelerators through Learning and Evaluation (SCALE). At the national level, SCALE is an amazing collaboration of change agents—people working together towards the goal of 100 million people living healthier lives by 2020.

The mission of our work in LA has been to improve health and health equity for women experiencing homelessness. The health topics we’ve focused on are those identified as important to the women in the Skid Row Community of LA. The women are working with different professionals as partners in this program to develop health solutions. Together, we’ve created programs and worked for systems change so that women can better access healthcare and housing.

This collaboration has been so successful—it’s even involved chefs! We’ve created diabetes management and other programs. Women have said they want to eat healthier, but that they need more healthy food options and education on meal preparation. One thing the initiative is doing is helping women improve their diets and regulate their blood sugar levels to lower the risk of diabetes and hypertension, which translates into better overall health and a higher quality of life. The results of this interprofessional approach are incredibly promising.