As anxiety and depression rise in the country, primary care clinics, especially in rural areas, are facing increased patient needs. One way to address this is to bolster healthcare providers’ ability to diagnose and treat patients with common mental health disorders. A team of researchers at UW Medicine, including Dr. Chwastiak, found that primary care physicians and rural clinic staff felt more skilled in delivering mental health care if they used a model known as collaborative care. The results were published Sept. 14 in the Annals of Family Medicine, and add to the evidence supporting collaborative care’s effectiveness.
https://newsroom.uw.edu/news/effective-way-increase-capacity-mental-health