Recommendations for Integrated Systems and Services for People With Co-occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Conditions

People with co-occurring mental and substance use disorders experience poor outcomes and incur high costs in multiple domains. Efforts to develop and disseminate evidence-based integrated programs for people with such co-occurring disorders began to wane in the past decade as efforts shifted toward integrating primary health care. Several recent trends underscore the need to refocus efforts on providing integrated care for people with both mental and substance use disorders. The authors summarize what is known about integrated care for people with these co-occurring disorders and recommend advancing implementation and research on integration and improving outcomes with existing resources.