Integrated Health Care: Improving Client Care while Providing Opportunities for Mental Health Counselors

2004 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 321-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Bowling Aitken ◽  
Russ Curtis
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Integrated Care ◽  
Integrated Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Counselors ◽  
Primary Care Settings ◽  
Client Care ◽  
Integrated Health ◽  
Receive Treatment

Integrated health care, the co-location of mental health and medical professionals within primary care settings, is an emerging trend. In essence, integrated care eases the access such that underserved primary care clients with mental health needs can receive treatment. Current models of integrated care are described, and strategies for mental health counselors' involvement within primary care settings are discussed.

Public Policy Issues Affecting Integrated Health Care: Challenges, Opportunities, and Implications for Clinical Mental Health Counselors

2022 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-67
Author(s):  
Varinder Kaur ◽  
Sylvia Lindinger-Sternart ◽  
Brittn Grey
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Integrated Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Counselors ◽  
Clinical Settings ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Whole Person ◽  
Integrated Health ◽  
Practical Implications

The growing need for the treatment of the whole person creates an opportunity for establishing a holistic integrated health care (IHC) system in various clinical settings. Considering the issues with existing IHC models and related public policies, and the current barriers facing clinical mental health counselors (CMHCs) who hope to become an integral part of IHC teams, we propose a new holistic IHC model. We highlight several practical implications of our proposed model that could be beneficial for the development of professional identity of CMHCs and their inclusion in IHC teams. We also offer numerous propositions for improving IHC-related policies in favor of CMHCs and the counseling profession.

Diagnostic Accuracy in Primary Care E-Visits: Evaluation of a Large Integrated Health Care Delivery System's Experience

2019 ◽  
Vol 94 (6) ◽  
pp. 976-984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhonda Hertzog ◽  
Justin Johnson ◽  
James Smith ◽  
Frank W. McStay ◽  
Briget da Graca ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Diagnostic Accuracy ◽  
Health Care Delivery ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Integrated Health Care ◽  
Integrated Health

Colocated Mental Health/Developmental Care

2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (11) ◽  
pp. 1023-1031 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheryl L. Levy ◽  
Elena Hill ◽  
Kathryn Mattern ◽  
Kevin McKay ◽  
R. Christopher Sheldrick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
American Academy ◽  
Developmental Care ◽  
Primary Care Settings ◽  
American Academy Of Pediatrics ◽  
Developmental Health ◽  
Financial Arrangements ◽  
Further Development

The inadequacy of mental health and developmental services for children is a widely recognized and growing problem. Although a variety of solutions have been proposed, none has been generally successful or feasible. This research describes models of colocation that have evolved in primary care settings in Massachusetts and reports on pediatricians’ and their colocated colleagues’ impressions of their benefits and challenges. Pediatricians in 18 practices that included a colocated mental health/developmental specialist (MH/DS) were identified through a survey administered through the state American Academy of Pediatrics Chapter, and interviewed. Practices varied widely in the professional expertise/training and roles of the MH/DSs, communication among providers, and financial arrangements. The majority of pediatricians and MH/DSs reported being pleased with their colocated arrangements, despite the costs rarely being supported by billing revenues. This study suggests that further development of such systems hold promise to meet the growing need for accessible pediatric mental and developmental health care.

scholarly journals A Clinical Care Monitoring and Data Collection Tool (H3 Tracker) to Assess Uptake and Engagement in Mental Health Care Services in a Community-Based Pediatric Integrated Care Model: Longitudinal Cohort Study (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael McCreary ◽  
Armen C Arevian ◽  
Madeline Brady ◽  
Ana E Mosqueda Chichits ◽  
Lily Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Program Evaluation ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Integrated Care ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Data Collection Tool ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Care Services

BACKGROUND National recommendations for pediatric integrated care models include improved capacity for care coordination and communication across primary care and specialty mental health providers using technology, yet few practical, short-term solutions are available for low-resource, community-based pediatric integrated care clinics. OBJECTIVE The goal of the paper is to describe the development and features of a Web-based tool designed for program evaluation and clinician monitoring of embedded pediatric mental health care using a community-partnered approach. In addition, a longitudinal study design was used to assess the implementation of the tool in program evaluation, including clinical monitoring and data collection. METHODS Biweekly meetings of the partnered evaluation team (clinic, academic, and funding partners) were convened over the course of 12 months to specify tool features using a participatory framework, followed by usability testing and further refinement during implementation. RESULTS A data collection tool was developed to collect clinic population characteristics as well as collect and display patient mental health outcomes and clinical care services from 277 eligible caregiver/child participants. Despite outreach, there was little uptake of the tool by either the behavioral health team or primary care provider. CONCLUSIONS Development of the H3 Tracker (Healthy Minds, Healthy Children, Healthy Chicago Tracker) in two community-based pediatric clinics with embedded mental health teams serving predominantly minority children is feasible and promising for on-site program evaluation data collection. Future research is needed to understand ways to improve clinic integration and examine whether promotion of primary care/mental health communication drives sustained use. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02699814; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02699814 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/772pV5rWW)

Canadian Approach to Integrated Care

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Kates ◽  
Ellen Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Integrated Care ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Mental Health Counselors ◽  
The Past ◽  
Collaborative Mental Health Care ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Mental Health Skills

This chapter describes the evolution of collaborative mental health care in Canada over the past 15 years, and the ways in which integrated care is becoming an increasingly integral part of Canada’s provincial and territorial healthcare services. It explores the underlying principles and models that can be found across the country. There is a particular emphasis on three things: (1) changes any mental health service can make to improve collaboration, (2) programs to increase the mental health skills and capacity of primary care, and (3) the integration of mental health services within primary care.A program in Hamilton, Ontario, has successfully integrated mental health counselors and psychiatrists into the offices of 170 family physicians across a city of 500,000 people for the past 20 years. The authors present data from the program’s evaluation, as well as key lessons learned and advice for other programs looking to set up similar models.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document