Outcomes of a Peer Mentor Intervention for Persons With Recurrent Psychiatric Hospitalization.

Objective: This article presents findings from a randomized controlled trial of a peer support mentorship intervention designed for individuals with serious mental illness and frequent, recurrent psychiatric hospitalizations.

Methods: Seventy-six individuals who were diagnosed as having a major psychotic or mood disorder and who had at least two psychiatric hospitalizations or more than three emergency department visits within the 18 months prior to the index hospitalization participated in this trial. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: standard care or a peer mentor plus standard care.

Establishing an Integrated Health Care Clinic in a Community Mental Health Center: Lessons Learned.

Integrating primary care with behavioral health services at community mental health centers is one response to the disparity in mortality and morbidity experienced by adults with serious mental illnesses and co-occurring substance use disorders. Many integration models have been developed in response to the Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration (PBHCI) initiative of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). One model is a primary care clinic co-located within the mental health center.

Using mHealth technologies to improve the identification of behavioral health problems in urban primary care settings.

Introduction: Behavioral health disorders remain under recognized and under diagnosed among urban primary care patients. Screening patients for such problems is widely recommended, yet is challenging to do in a brief primary care encounter, particularly for this socially and medically complex patient population.

Methods: In 2013, intervention patients at an urban Connecticut primary clinic were screened for post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and risky drinking (n = 146) using an electronic tablet-based screening tool.