POSTCON1 - Frameworks to Policy: Advancing Behavioral Health Integration in Community Health Centers

Please RSVP by Monday, February 2 if you or a colleague will attend.

Session Description: Behavioral health integration is essential to delivering whole-person care and according to the latest data, 98% of health centers report providing behavioral health services. However, the level of integration can vary among the six levels of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) and Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) framework of collaboration and integration.

With support from The Commonwealth Fund, NACHC set out to understand the types of behavioral health integration models and frameworks CHCs are utilizing and to identify gaps, best practices, and barriers to optimal care. NACHC’s Research Team interviewed eight health centers that have demonstrated exemplary models of behavioral health integration with community-based primary care. This session will present evidence-based frameworks that advance behavioral health integration and provide real-world health center examples of their application in community-based settings.

Join this two-hour post-conference discussion to learn about key findings from these interviews and engage with health center interviewees on how to best implement common frameworks and models of care within your health center. Afterwards, speakers will host a peer-to-peer networking session, where participants will share challenges with BH integration and receive feedback from speakers and other participants on how to best overcome them.