title: Perceptions of mental health and substance abuse program administrators and staff on service delivery to persons with co-occurring substance abuse and mental disorders.
abstract: Several initiatives in the past 20 years have been implemented in Los Angeles County to improve service delivery across the mental health and substance abuse treatment systems, with the goal of increasing access to and coordination of services for individuals with co-occurring substance abuse and mental disorders. To examine the current status of service delivery to this population, a survey was conducted with administrators of mental health and substance abuse programs that provide services to dually diagnosed patients and with the treatment staff in those programs. Administrators (n = 15) and staff (n = 99) in substance abuse programs rated the accessibility and coordination of services to dually diagnosed patients significantly lower than the mental health administrators (n = 10) and staff (n = 136). Efforts to coordinate service delivery across the two systems need to address these divergent perceptions between staff in programs that are increasingly called upon to work together to jointly deliver services.
authors.affiliation: UCLA Drug Abuse Research Center/Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, 1640 S Sepulveda Blvd, Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90025, USA. grella@ucla.edu.
authors.forename: Christine E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Grella
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gil-Rivas
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cooper
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry); D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D015141:Los Angeles; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000534:rehabilitation*