Graduate Student Level Behavioral Health Consultation in a Primary Care Setting: An Outcome Study
Year: 2013
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The primary care system has been referred to as the de facto system for all types of mental and behavioral health difficulties as there are a significant number of barriers that keep patients from seeking treatment in other settings.As a result, the integrated primary care model has been implemented to meet the psychological needs of patients.With this implementation there is a need for adequately trained psychologists, however there is a limited number of programs that can provide this training.The medical records of 628 patients of an integrated primary care setting were reviewed to determine if seeing a behavioral health consultant (BHC) showed efficacy at decreasing primary care utilization rates and if certain factors influence utilization (such as presenting problem and gender).All BHCs were clinical psychology doctoral students in a practicum in integrated primary care.This study found that patients were likely to begin meeting with a BHC at approximately the same time that their visits with their primary care physician (PCP) increase.Additionally, after meeting with a BHC, the mean number of PCP Graduate Level BHC Outcomes iv visits per month began to decrease as soon as the first month.Other results in this study suggested that the utilization of PCP and BHC services significantly differ by presenting problems, however not by gender.These results suggest that graduate level BHCs are likely able to assist patients with significant change that results in a decrease of utilization of both PCP and BHC services.This makes a case for implementation of more integrated primary care training programs to better meet the current workforce demand.
Author: Syrett Yvonne Torres
Language: English
Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W109634379