CSH2 - If at First You Don’t Succeed – Discussing Setbacks and How to Overcome Them on the Pathway to Behavioral Health Integration - P2P NETWORKING SESSION

Session Description: Community Health Centers (CHCs) provide access to affordable, quality, and culturally competent primary and behavioral healthcare to over 32.5 million patients, and more than 3.2 million patients received mental health services at a CHC in 2023. Integration of BH and primary care has led to CHCs becoming one-stop shops and the provider of choice for millions of patients who need this lifesaving care. A Commonwealth Fund report on how prioritizing integration can address the national behavioral health crisis highlights how integration is a continuum, and providers can strengthen their efforts based on their current capabilities.
However, progress is not always a straight line. For every successful mental health program, partnership with community-based mental health organizations or providers, or co-located setting, there are examples of hardships and false starts before these successes. Only after organizations overcome these challenges and setbacks can a better-integrated system be established.
This interactive session will provide opportunities to engage in small group discussions with health center peers who are on the front lines of BH integration. Health Center speakers will highlight a successful BH integration and a challenge that occurred during implementation. Afterward, 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.