Infant Mental Health

Infant Mental Health

In Infant Mental Health, participants will explore how substance use, including opioid use, impacts prenatal and early childhood development (ages 0–5). The course emphasizes the importance of early relational health and the systems that influence infant and family well-being. Students will learn about child-centered approaches, parent-focused interventions, macro/community-level resources, and strategies to address cultural bias within care delivery. Instruction will also cover the integration of services across health, social, and community systems to best support infants and families impacted by substance misuse.

The program will empower participants to:

• Understand the foundations of infant mental health and the developmental needs of children from birth to age five.
• Identify the effects of substance use and opioid use on prenatal and early childhood development.
• Apply child-centered and parent-focused approaches to promote healthy emotional and cognitive growth.
• Recognize and address cultural bias in assessment, care, and service delivery.
• Evaluate and connect families to integrated systems of care and community resources.

Program content will be offered in an online, self-paced, asynchronous format. Course materials will include scholarly articles, rich-media resources, handouts, discussion activities, lecture notes, presentations, assessments, and field-relevant tools.

This course will be taught by UNH faculty member Ngozi Enelamah, from the College of Health and Human Services Department of Social Work and is part of the Track 2 schedule for eligible Building Futures Together trainees. Please contact Macey Muller at macey.muller@unh.edu for more information.