Collaborative Care is a healthcare philosophy and movement focussed on a systematised way of managing care and treatment for people with chronic conditions. Related ideas include: Integrated care, Primary Care Behavioral Health, Integrated care systems, and shared care. There are many studies establishing the long-term clinical and cost-effectiveness of collaborative care for people with physical–mental comorbidity. Nearly half of all people with a diagnosable mental health problem also have a long-term physical condition.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) published an overview of many different models and the research that supports them in 2008.^[1] The key features of Collaborative Care models are:

• Integration of mental health professionals in primary care medical settings
• Close collaboration between mental health and medical/nursing providers
• Focus on treating the person and family.

Four key components were indentified by Ramanju and Pincus in 2019:

• a multiprofessional approach to patient care;
• a structured management plan tailored to the individual needs of the patient;
• proactive follow-up delivering evidence-based treatments;
• processes to enhance interprofessional communication such as routine and regular team meetings and/or shared records.^[2]

According to Shivam Shah collaborative care is a form of systematic team-based care involving:

• A case manager responsible for the coordination of different components of care;
• A structured care management plan, shared with the patient;
• Systematic patient management based on protocols and the tracking of outcomes;
• Delivery of care by a multidisciplinary team which includes a psychiatrist;
• Collaboration between primary and secondary care.^[3]

There are organisations in many countries promoting these ideas such as the American Collaborative Family Healthcare Association, a multi-guild member association based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, which supports healthcare professionals in integrating physical and behavioral health.^[4] The University of Washington has an Advancing Integrated Mental Health Solutions Center, founded by Jürgen Unützer, to promote primary care behavioral health.^[5]

The Coalition for Collaborative Care was established in England in 2014. It focuses on re-framing the relationship between a person with long-term health conditions and the professionals supporting them.^[6]

See also

Integrated care

References