A meta-analysis was completed to identify the degree of effectiveness of the integrated primary and behavioral healthcare (IPBH) paradigm for decreasing commonly occurring mental health symptoms. A systematic search strategy yielded 36 randomized controlled trials whose treatment effects were synthesized using statistical procedures to account for error associated with participant and study characteristics. Findings indicated that IPBH was superior to treatment as usual at end-of-treatment (g = −0.38 to −0.24; k = 39) and longest follow-up intervals (g = −0.40 to −0.24; k = 29). Moderator analyses revealed that number of treatment team providers and number of behavioral health sessions integrated into IPBH were the strongest predictors of treatment effect. Our findings support the position that mental health counselors are well suited to enhance the mental health of individuals within primary care settings. Suggestions are provided for promoting best practices and magnifying treatment effect.
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Lenz et al. (2018) studied this question.
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