Implementing the Public Health Social Work Forward Plan: a research-based prevention curriculum for schools of social work.

In 1985, the Division of Maternal and Child Health of the U.S. Public Health Service funded a major working conference entitled "Public Health Social Work in Maternal and Child Health: A Forward Plan." Curriculum recommendations for schools of social work were made, including a recommendation for the integration of health and mental health content in the education of social workers within a public health conceptual framework. In 1986, the National Institute of Mental Health funded a three-year program to develop and evaluate a research-based prevention training curriculum for dissemination to schools of social work and other primary care professional schools. This article examines the Michigan Prevention Training and Curriculum Development Project from the perspective of the recommendations of the Public Health Social Work Forward Plan.