Integrated Behavioral Health in Primary Care: Evaluating the Evidence, Identifying the Essentials

From the reviews:

“Written for anyone interested in behavioral health, the book is especially relevant for clinicians, researchers, administrators, and policy-makers involved in the delivery, design, or funding of healthcare services. … a welcome addition to a rapidly changing field. It provides a timely snapshot of the present and direction for the future of behavioral health. … professors and students, clinicians and researchers, and especially policy-makers and politicians will read it and come to understand the valuable contribution behavioral health can make to providing cost-effective healthcare.” (Thomas P. Guck, Doody’s Book Reviews, January, 2014)

“Integrated Behavioral Health in Primary Care will be a useful resource for mental health practitioners working in primary care settings. Physicians and other primary care providers will also find this text informative, as it will provide new insights into the psychological and behavioral issues facing the individuals whom they treat in the primary care setting and offer ways to capitalize on integration opportunities.” (Barbara Cubic, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 59 (19), 2014)

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

Dr. Mary R. Talen received her BA in psychology from Calvin College, her MA in marriage, family and child counseling from Fuller Theological Seminary and her PhD in counseling psychology from the Teacher’s College of Columbia University. Currently in progress is her MS in clinical psychopharmacology with Fairleigh Dickinson University. Dr. Talen has over 25 published articles, with 20 as first-author and has over 55 national and international presentations on the themes of implementation of behavioral health best practices with evidenced based medicine, ensuring a comprehensive continuum of care with outreach to underserved and uninsured populations and fusion of Balint with problem-solving strategies.