“The Chicken or the Egg”: Barriers and Facilitators to Collaborative Care for People With Comorbidity in a Metropolitan Region of South Australia

Abstract

Mental health disorder and alcohol and other drug comorbidity is prevalent in Australia. This qualitative study used semistructured interviews (N = 20) to elicit clinicians' and workers' knowledge, experiences, and opinions regarding issues pertaining to service needs of people with comorbidity in a metropolitan region of South Australia. The study revealed barriers to effective access and delivery of comorbidity care by MH and AOD services. Participants reported difficulties with identification, access, suitability, policy, funding, and collaboration between sectors and services responding to comorbidity. Results suggest that these models of practice were inadequate influencing the delivery, consistency, and reliability of comorbidity care.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to acknowledge our collaborating partners: The Northern Adelaide Medicare Local (NAML), Aboriginal Health Council of South Australia Inc. (AHCSA) and Salisbury Council for their valuable contribution to this project. We also wish to acknowledge the informants for sharing their knowledge and experiences on this challenging topic.

 Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

FUNDING

This study was funded by an ARC (Australian Research Council) Partnership Grant.