Collaboration, caring and service to the community have inspired the University of West Florida Social Work Department’s involvement in the grant-funded Gulf Region Health Outreach Project. The project resulted from the Deepwater Horizon medical benefits class action settlement against BP Oil, after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010.UWF earned the distinct honor of being chosen as one of eight institutions by the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana to lead a series of integrated, five-year grant projects. Each project centered on building one of four distinct, yet related, aspects of capacity in the region: primary care, mental and behavioral health, environmental health and literacy, and capacity related to the training of community health workers. The projects were collectively intended not only to address the immediate issues caused by the 2010 disaster, but also to develop capacity within the affected communities. RELATED CONTENT: Guest View: Democrats can save the Senate or ruin it “We learned that as a community we must proactively build health capacity and prepare for future challenges,” said Dr. Glenn Rohrer, UWF’s project lead and faculty in the social work department.Now in its fourth year, the UWF project defined an integrated model for delivering mental and…