Welcome to this webpage, a product of the Integrated Behavioral Health Scholars program, a collaboration between Dell Seton Medical Center and various training programs within the University of Texas at Austin. The Integrated Behavioral Health Scholars program at Dell trains graduate students in psychology, mental health nurse practitioner students, psychiatry residents, and social work graduate students in delivering mental health services in medical settings and other integrated settings.
Many individuals in need of mental health services, or their family members, have difficulty accessing mental healthcare services. In addition, sometimes providers have difficulty communicating among one another to create a unified treatment plan. The goal of integrated behavioral health services is to address a lack of access to mental health providers by inserting them in settings that have traditionally provided only medical services, such as primary care offices, community clinics, and other settings. Sometimes, settings can integrate other types of services, such as school/medical collaborations, which might take place on or near a school but include both physical health services (medicine or nursing) and mental health care services. Stigma against mental health, the belief that mental health care is less valid or important than other types of health care, is one reason that mental health services have historically been separated from physical health settings. The clear separation between physical and mental health services can sometimes make mental health care seem more different or less valid than other medical services. One advantage of having mental healthcare accessible in physical health settings is that it reduces mental health stigma by eliminating that separation.
The goal of this page is to provide general information about integrated behavioral health and list resources related to integrated behavioral health in Austin, TX for providers in integrated behavioral health settings and patients seeking assistance in integrated behavioral health services.
This page provides information about integrated mental health settings here in Austin, TX.
When assessing behavioral health needs for staffing…
- Identify most prevalent behavioral health needs
- Deliberate recruitment of behavioral health and healthcare providers
- Clear roles and responsibilities for each team member (many disciplines and provide similar services)
- Education for all team members about each other’s disciplines and roles
- Collaboration within primary care settings
- Clear procedures for how to provide a “warm-handoff” (work flow)
Other resources about Integrated Behavioral Health:
- https://www.masspartnership.com/pdf/AHRQAcademyGuidebook-March2015.pdf
- https://www.mgma.com/resources/quality-patient-experience/integrated-behavioral-health-in-a-clinical-primary
- https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Treatments/Types-of-Mental-Health-Professionals
- https://childrenswi.org/newshub/stories/integrated-behavioral-health
- https://depts.washington.edu/fammed/chws/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2016/04/Integrated_behavioral_health_workforce_FR_2016_Apr_Skillman.pdf
Faculty Contact: Jane Gray, Associate Professor of Practice