A Qualitative Study on Incentives and Disincentives for Care of Common Mental Disorders in Ontario Family Health Teams

Background: An opportunity to address the needs of patients with common mental disorders (CMDs) resides in primary care. Barriers are restricting availability of treatment for CMDs in primary care. By understanding the incentives that promote and the disincentives that deter treatment for CMDs in a collaborative primary care context, this study aims to help contribute to goals of greater access to mental healthcare. Method: A qualitative pilot study using semi-structured interviews with thematic analysis. Results: Participants identified 10 themes of incentives and disincentives influencing quality treatment of CMDs in a collaborative primary care setting: high service demands, clinical presentation, patient-centred care, patient attributes, education, physician attributes, organizational, access to mental health resources, psychiatry and physician payment model. Conclusion: An understanding of the incentives and disincentives influencing care is essential to achieve greater integration and capacity for care for the treatment of CMDs in primary care.This research was supported by a fellowship in the Social Aetiology of Mental Illness (SAMI) training program, a Strategic Training Initiative in Health Research funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), based at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the University of Toronto