Mental Health Services in General Health Care

Abstract

This report is drawn from the authors'; cumulative clinical, administrative, and research experience in both Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs) and Neighborhood Health Centers (NHCs) over the last decade as well as a review of the relevant literature. From our experience we feel that the neighborhood-based conjoint health-mental health setting of the NHC is an excellent context for the provision of primary mental health services, i.e., problem and diagnostic evaluation, crisis intervention, individual, group and family psychotherapies, aftercare services (including psychoactive medication) for the chronically ill in the community, and prevention/educational outreach programs about mental health and mental illness. We have been impressed by the opportunities that such a setting provides for mental health professionals to collaborate with primary physicians in the latter';s roles as case-finders and treaters of patients with defined mental disorder, patients with combined psychiatric and medical problems, and patients reacting to either external or illness-related stresses.