Implementation of Evidence-based Culturally Adapted Interventions, Collaborative Care, and Change Management for Improved Mental Health Outcomes in a Community-based Safety-net Clinic

Mental health disorders are prominent and devastating in the United States. They are more prevalent in low-socioeconomic and minority groups with lower rates of diagnosis and treatment in these populations. Primary care settings are the foremost location for screening, diagnosis, and treatment for common mental health disorders but do not always provide adequate care due to limitations of time, knowledge, and resources. Evidence has shown that collaborative care models can provide more effective treatment for behavioral health services through a team-based approach to holistic patient care. This project focused on implementing culturally adapted, collaborative care models to improve mental health screening, documentation, and interventions at a community-based safety-net clinic and provide the clinic with a change management toolkit for future projects and initiatives. This quality improvement project utilized Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model to improve implementation and sustainability of the project and to develop the toolkit for change management. Results of this project displayed significant improvement of screening, diagnosis, and intervention rates after implementation of volunteer education of new behavioral health processes through development and utilization of educational materials and a change management toolkit