Primary and Behavioral Health Integration: Guiding Principles for Workforce Development, CIHS

Abstract: Workforce issues related to the provision of integrated behavioral health and general healthcare are widely identified as barriers to integration.

Primary and Behavioral Health Integration: Guiding Principles for Workforce Development, CIHS

Recent healthcare reforms have stimulated increased interest in promoting the integrated delivery of behavioral health services with other forms of healthcare. However, workforce issues related to the provision of integrated behavioral health and general healthcare have been a longstanding concern and are widely identified as barriers to integration, including:

• Inadequate skills for integrated practice; 
• Reluctance to change practice patterns; 
• Negative attitudes about persons with mental health and substance use problems; 
• Lack of financial incentives to reinforce the skills required to provide integrated care; and 
• Shortage of leaders committed to and capable of managing the organizational change process required to achieve integration.

Tags: Workforce