Integrating Primary Care and Behavioral Health: A Nurse Practitioner’s

Abstract

Health equity for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) requires collaborative partnerships between primary care and behavioral health organizations. This paper presents the experiences and perspectives of a nurse practitioner in a large-scale pilot program to integrate primary care and behavioral health between an FQHC and a community mental health center, both serving predominantly Asian immigrant populations. This paper discusses lessons learned through program implementation and provides insights on developing a truly integrated system involving equal and full cooperation across disciplines to provide quality and holistic care for patients with SMI. Implications for clinical practice and policy are discussed.

A Qualitative Study on Primary Care Integration into an Asian Immigrant-specific Behavioural Health Setting in the United States

“…Extensive training was also needed for staff in the current study to become familiar with using these information sharing systems. Policymakers and funders must take into account the additional burdens on staffing and other resources associated with caring from multilingual, multicultural patients, as suggested elsewhere [40]. …”