Improving Collaborative Mental Health Care by School-Based Primary Care and Mental Health Providers

This manuscript presents the process and findings of a national quality improvement collaborative, the Mental Health Education
and Training (MHET) initiative, designed to improve mental health service provision in school-based health centers (SBHCs),
with an emphasis on enhancing collaboration between physical and mental health providers. MHET participants included multidisciplinary
teams from 19 SBHCs in six states: Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, and West Virginia. Findings
demonstrate that the intensive learning collaborative model, with ongoing training, work-plan development, and continuous
technical assistance, successfully changed provider behaviors in ways that reflect improvements in collaborative care between
primary care and mental health providers. SBHC staff and providers reported enhanced collaborative care, and chart audits
demonstrated that MHET sites made improvements in mental health service quality, including increased follow-up assessments
and referrals upon the identification of students’ mental health symptoms. Several strategies for improving collaborative
care in school settings are discussed.