Implementation of an integrated primary care behavioral health training model on campus

In the last 15 years, demand has surged among college students for mental health care and many campuses are struggling to keep up with the demand for services. Primary care services represent a pathway where individuals can receive mental health care without accessing specialty mental health services. There is evidence that integrating mental health services into primary care can reduce racial disparities in access to mental health care and provide greater access to mental health care for underserved persons. This paper describes the development and implementation of a fully integrated model of mental health care services into Xavier University's (XU) primary care clinic. In partnership with TriHealth, a local healthcare provider, and following the primary care behavioral care model, XU integrated supervised psychology doctoral students as behavior health consultants into a campus primary care clinic. Administrative, clinical care, and training processes together with preliminary findings and recommendations are shared.