The American College of Physicians (ACP) recommends six policy changes for integrating behavioral health into primary care. ACP's policy position paper, The Integration of Care for Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Other Behavioral Health Conditions into Primary Care, examines various approaches of delivering integrated care and offers a series of evidence-based policy recommendations to advance advocacy, research, and practice.
The authors note that treating the "whole person" requires addressing both physical and behavioral health. Most patients with behavioral health needs use the primary care office as their main source of care and given the nation's shortage of behavioral health providers, this may be the only setting in which behavioral health can be broadly recognized and treated. As such, ACP advocates changes to the health care system, as well as changes that will alter societal and cultural perceptions. An executive summary of ACP's recommendations can be accessed for free in Annals of Internal Medicine.