Providers\u27 Perspectives on Women’s Integrated Healthcare: An Exploratory Study

Women of color, low socioeconomic status (SES) women, and other minority groups face healthcare disparities in the U.S. healthcare system, including lower quality care (Cook et al., 2009), dissatisfaction, and barriers to accessing care (Anderson et al., 2001; Avery et al., 2011). In recent years, within the healthcare field, there is an increased interest in integrated healthcare, specifically, the integration of mental health services in primary care. The current study uses a mixed method exploratory approach to investigate providers’ perspectives on women’s healthcare disparities from a relational and systems perspective. We included both psychologists and primary care physicians from three levels of healthcare integration (traditional/coordinated, co-located, and integrated). This study aimed to 1) examine both structural and relational factors that contribute to providers’ experiences at various levels of integration and their perspectives on women’s healthcare; 2) identify interrelationships among structural, relational, and provider factors; 3) explore differences in provider perspectives between provider types and levels of integration; 4) examine predictors of provider beliefs and job satisfaction; and 5) identify themes in narrative data on provider healthcare experiences with diverse women. As we hypothesized, results indicated that providers in integrated settings were the most satisfied with their collaboration with other providers. Providers’ narratives revealed that healthcare integration is promising for improving patient-provider relationships and providers’ knowledge and sensitivity to health disparities and provided insight into areas for further training and intervention. Implications of these findings highlight the need for in-depth understanding of various impact factors, experiences of providers, and potential benefits of integrating care for women of diverse backgrounds