Study: Integrating behavioral health services into primary care medical settings offers many benefits

In the current issue of Family Medicine and Community Health (Volume 6,Number 3, 2018, pp.131-141, researchers Kendra Campbell, Loren McKnight and Angel R. Vasquez of the Department of Psychology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA, describe how integrating behavioral health services into primary care medical settings offers a variety of benefits, including improved continuity of care and access to service, more effective health prevention and management, and clinical cost-effectiveness.

Integrated models have not been readily used in rural US settings. With minimal resources, we developed an integrated primary care-behavioral health program in the family medicine department of a semirural medical clinic in Alaska to meet clinic and community needs. The initial program outcomes suggest that this integrated primary care-behavioral health program is helping to address the behavioral health needs of the local population. Our findings suggest that integrated healthcare models are feasible in rural or small-scale settings.

Source: https://www.uaf.edu/