Integrated Care
& its importance
What is it?
Integrated care is the inclusion of both physical and mental health services all within the same facility. It involves complete coordination between all respective doctors, therapists, and other healthcare professionals to diagnose, treat, and maintain individuals throughout their lives.
Current Healthcare Model
In Western medicine there is currently a complete separation between the treatment of people's physical and mental health. To obtain physiological care one would go to a physician's office or regular hospital whereas in order to obtain psychological care one would go to a therapist's office or a psychiatric hospital. This current divide causes several problems such as creating stigma around mental health care, impeding in the success rate of treatment, and costing the public more money to access both services.
Brief History
The idea of a separation between mind and body was first introduced by René Descartes in the 1600's with his theory of Mind-Body Dualism also known as Cartesian Dualism. This theory may have had an influence into the original division of the mind from the body in terms of the development of modern medicine. As history continued, modern medicine began to develop newer techniques and research approaches that were focused on the individual's physical health. This may have been a result of several influencing factors such as: the physical body being a more tangible subject to report findings (which was crucial in early medicine), the lack of understanding and technology to study the mind or the fact that the most pressing medical issues of that time involved physiological illness and conditions. Which ever of these reasons it may be the separation must come to an end. Modern research has found that physical ailments can begin to erode mental functioning and mental illnesses ,such as depression, have been proven to negatively impact individuals physical well being as well. With this in mind it only makes sense to combine both services in order to better address individuals as a whole person comprising of both a mind and body that are intertwined.
Mental Health Stigma
The most harmful outcome of the divide between mental and physical health has been the stigma that was created on individuals seeking mental health care. Especially in Western medicine, where physiological illness is seen as outside a individuals control but mental illness is seen as a character flaw. This is due in part because of the way and timeframe in which these two practices developed. Even though today we are finally beginning to see improvements in the reduction of stigma around mental health there is still a lot to overcome. By including mental care in the same setting as physical care and increasing people's everyday exposure to these services integrated care would be able to further breakdown the stigma around mental illness and care.
Success Rates
Due to the interconnectedness of the mind and body both heavily influence one another when something in the body or outside of the body goes wrong. As stated previously a mental illness such as depression can cause a deterioration of physiological health which could manifest itself in a variety of ways depending on the individual. Researchers have found that mental health can play a huge role in the prognosis of illnesses, medication adherence, and willingness to return for follow-ups.
Cost Effectiveness
Healthcare cost has been a big issue for quite some time now as individuals have voiced their concern about not being able to receive the care they deserve. This is especially true on the mental health side of care since it is sometimes harder to get the insurance company onboard to pay up for the services you require. Many individuals are stuck paying for therapy sessions out of pocket or not getting the level of care that they need. By integrating mental and physical health underneath one roof the cost of both sides of services should see a decrease due in part to the increased volume these healthcare facilities would see as well as the fact that insurance companies would be further inclined to pay for people's mental healthcare treatment.