Health and aging students can specialize in medical social work, gerontological social work, or a combination of both. The objectives of this area of practice are to orient students to the policies, programs and services that are peculiar to the broadly defined health care system that serves infants, children, and adults to prepare social work practitioners with knowledge and skills for practice in settings. The mental health area of practice aids students in the understanding of mental illness as well as the classification and treatment of mental illness. Knowledge and understanding of the history of mental health services during the twentieth century is also a focus of this specialization. The objectives for the area include the understanding of practice roles and types of treatment modalities, the evolutionary series of changes and the importance of the local mental health system, and the causes of mental illness.
Attention is given to mental health policy analysis, program development and management.