Collaborative Care in Primary Health Care Focus on Management of Depression

Abstract

Depression often goes undetected and undertreated in primary care settings. Collaborative management of mental disorders; such as depression, with the involvement of a multidisciplinary team in primary care, is an effective solution to improve depression treatment. This study aimed to understand collaborative care for depression management in primary health care. This was in order to evaluate contemporary conceptions of Collaborative Care (CC) for primary medical problems. This study examined numerous studies from the Pubmed Central International database; including, a textbook, a review paper, a commentary, and an editorial. The CC approach has five fundamental elements: patient-centered team care, population-based care, target measurement-based therapy, evidence-based care, and accountable care. The CC approach uses a "patient education manager," to involve patient care decision-makers, monitor results, conduct follow-ups, support the management of primary care physician antidepressant therapies, and coordinate services from numerous providers. The conclusion from this review is that CC is a holistic, multidisciplinary, and proactive treatment model to manage depression. Effective treatment of depression utilizing a CC model could therefore have major benefits; including, better clinical improvement, improved patient quality of life, and cost-effectiveness.