Integrating Mental Health Services into Primary Care: Lessons Learnt

This paper reviews the lessons learnt over the last five years by the Hamilton-Wentworth HSO Mental Health Program, an innovative program in Southern Ontario which brings counsellors and psychiatrists into the offices of 90 family physicians. The authors discuss the key reasons why the program has worked well and identifies key differences between primary care mental health services and traditional mental health services. It summarises new opportunities this approach opens up and looks at the applicability of this model in other settings.