Beyond care coordination: Integrated health care settings for youth and their families

ABSTRACT

Integrated behavioral health (IBH) addresses the needs of children and their families with a comprehensive psychosocial approach that maximizes treatment adherence and minimizes duplication of services and barriers to mental health treatment. This treatment modality goes beyond care coordination and has been especially effective in helping youth and their families in low-income and high-risk neighborhoods. In the last two decades, IBH has found a home in two distinct service vehicles: primary care practices and school-based health clinics. This article discusses both types of models of care, provides a brief overview of assessment tools that social workers utilize in IBH settings, and illustrates some family IBH interventions through a case example.

KEYWORDS:

• Integrated behavioral health
• youth
• families
• primary care
• mental health

Acknowledgment

Parts of this article were published in Mirabito, D. M., Chomanczuk Heckman, A., & Siegel, J. (2017). Integrated Health Care for Children and Adolescents. In V. Stanhope & S. L. A. Straussner (Eds.), Integrated health care: From policy to practice and back (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, and appear with permission of the publishers.