Integrated Behavioral Health in Primary Care (PDF)

Healthcare reform is a pressing social issue for some, and a political rallying cry for others. But for many in the medical and mental health professions, healthcare reform means weaving together both domains to provide patients with quality care that is holistic and patient-centered. As desirable as this goal is, challenges from cultural differences to resource inequities threaten the dream. Integrated Behavioral Health in Primary Care provides professionals with a consumer's guide for implementing integrated behavioral healthcare at the macro, meso and micro levels of care. Extensive evidence is reviewed, describing the types of behavioral health approaches that are essential in re-designed healthcare systems. Behavioral health has broad implications for systems-based changes in patient-centered models of care, including team-based care, evidence-based clinical practices, and quality improvement projects. Introductory chapters decipher the cacophony of terms to provide a common language for integrated behavioral health. Later chapters propose the best practices of collaborative medicine for healthcare procedures--from screening through implementation, while also addressing the problem of territorial disputes in healthcare practice. Included in the coverage:

• Community-based participatory research: advancing integrated behavioral healthcare through novel partnerships.
• Integrated behavioral health in public healthcare contexts.
• The historical context of financial, organizational, and policy issues that shape the future of integrated behavioral healthcare.
• Identification of behavioral health needs in primary care settings.
• Implementing clinical interventions in integrated behavioral healthcare settings.
• Working with complexity in integrated behavioral healthcare settings.

The blueprint offered in Integrated Behavioral Health in Primary Care clarifies roles and opportunities for