Development and Implementation of a Collaborative Mental Health Care Program in a Primary Care Setting: The Ottawa Share Program

This article presents the results of a needs assessment of family physicians and residents concerning the provision of mental health care and an implementation evaluation of a multidisciplinary mental health service demonstration project, linking 2 family practices with mental health services of a general hospital. Family physicians and residents reported that collaborative mental health care provision would enhance but not replace their management of patients with mental health problems. The implementation evaluation found that collaborative care provided by a multidisciplinary mental health team co-located with family physicians was accepted by patients and valued by family physicians. Because of a shortage of family physicians, few patients from the mental health system who lacked family physicians were able to gain access to primary care through this project.