title: Integrated local networks as a model for organizing mental health services.
abstract: Organizing services in an integrated network as a model for transforming healthcare systems is often presented as a potential remedy for service fragmentation that should enhance system efficiency. In the mental health sector, integration is also part of a diversified response to the multiple needs of the clients, particularly people with serious mental health disorders. The authors describe how the notion of integrated service networks came to serve as a model for transforming the mental health system in Quebec, and they propose a frame of reference for this notion. They also address the challenges and issues raised by this mode of service organization in the mental health sector and more generally in a context of transforming healthcare systems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. flemar@douglas.mcgill.ca
authors.forename: Marie-Josée
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Fleury
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mercier
mesh_terms: D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019058:Community Networks / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006284:Health Plan Implementation; D006801:Humans; D017146:Models, Organizational; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D011792:Quebec