Integrated behavioral health care within primary care has become a popular style of health care delivery within the United States. However, individuals with a behavioral health concern face several barriers in using these services. The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify key factors accounting for individuals' utilization and intensity of behavioral health services. Andersen's behavioral model of health care use and the integrated theory of health behavior change served as the theoretical framework. It was hypothesized that gender, age, race, ethnicity, family size, payer type, poverty level, and certain preexisting medical conditions (obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and tobacco use) would determine behavioral health care utilization and intensity. A secondary data analysis of 315 individuals who used behavioral health services within primary care was performed; the study setting was at the Center for Health, Education, Medicine, and Dentistry, located in Lakewood, New Jersey. Among the individual variables examined, only a preexisting condition of hypertension reached statistical significance, showing that those individuals were more likely to attend multiple sessions, Ï?2 (1) = 5.77, p = .02. Payer type was also found to be predictive of behavioral health care intensity. Medicare recipients were more likely to attend multiple behavioral health care sessions (74%) than were Medicaid recipients (59%) and those who were uninsured (25%). By providing insights about the barriers faced by individuals, study findings may help patient advocates and health care professionals to provide individuals with better health care. This study has implications for positive social change, as study findings may assist the United States health care system in its shift toward an integrated behavioral health care style of health care delivery.

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Mental illness in the United States is a major public health problem. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in 2017, 18.9% of adults in the United States had a mental illness. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the perceptions held by community health workers (CHWs) regarding their integration into the behavioral health care system in Maryland. Using a social constructivism paradigm and phenomenological approach, a purposive sample of 11 CHWs who supported patients with behavioral health conditions in 17 counties in the state were interviewed. Howlett, McConnell, and Perl'€™s five stream confluence policy process theory and Lipsky's street level bureaucracy theory provided the foundation to explore the perceptions of the CHWs about their integration into the behavioral health care system; the problems, policies, processes, and programs that impacted their ability to be integrated into the behavioral health team; and their function as a street level bureaucrat to facilitate their integration. A deductive iterative coding approach was used, culminating in the identification of the following 6 themes: health system utilization of CHW behavioral health integration, official policy recognition of the CHW profession, accountability for CHW integration, CHW practice support, integrated health care team management of physical and mental health and behavior, and building the CHW profession. The social change implications of this study are that CHWs'€™ integration into the broadly defined, integrated, physical and mental behavioral health team can support having a more cost-effective way toward having healthy people and communities because they link the community to health and social services and advocate for quality care.

The conditions that allowed early MFTs the freedom to creatively explore different interventions and theories of change are no longer available in today’s mental health care system. Although there are many benefits to the structure of managed behavioral healthcare organizations, a thorough review of the literature demonstrates that many therapists working in managed care agencies struggle with maintaining their theoretical creativity, claiming third-party payers’ service requirements and paperwork a barrier to their creativity. A phenomenological transcendental research method was utilized to understand the phenomenon of successfully combining creativity and accountability in the practice of marriage and family therapy from the perspective of six creative MFTs who have effectively incorporated creative therapeutic techniques into their work, while adhering to the structured requirements of managed care. The findings and themes of the study were organized into two categories. The themes in the Textural / Content Category (description and purpose of therapeutic creativity at a managed care agency) are: (1) Creatively combining the needs of the clients, the different professional entities, insurance companies and you as a therapist, (2) Translating post-modern information into the medical model language that meets the third-party payers’ requirements, (3) Completing documentation with clients, (4) Incorporating technique from a range of therapy models, (5) Keeping clients engaged through a variety of resources and activities, and (6) Utilizing metaphors and themes to uncover patterns of relational dynamics and behaviors. The themes in the Structural / Supportive Conditions Category (factors that allow the balance of creativity and accountability to occur) are: (1) Systemic understanding of how the therapeutic and business systems of managed behavioral healthcare interact together, (2) Having a supportive network of colleagues, (2a) Supportive group of coworkers within the job setting, (2b) Supportive network of MFT colleagues outside of the work setting, (3) Desire to make a difference in peoples’ lives, (4) Continuous education on all aspects of the mental health field, (5) Employers’ support of creative therapy, (6) Self-reflection, (7) Self-care, and (8) Organization and time management.