Integrated specialty mental health care among older minorities improves access but not outcomes: results of the PRISMe study.
OBJECTIVE
In this secondary data analysis of Primary Care Research in Substance Abuse and Mental Health for the Elderly (PRIMSe) study, we hypothesized that older minorities who receive mental health services integrated in primary care settings would have greater service use and better mental health outcomes than older minorities referred to community services.


METHODS
We identified 2,022 (48% minorities) primary care patients 65 years and older, who met study inclusion criteria and had either alcohol misuse, depression, and/or anxiety. They were randomized to receive treatment for these disorders in the primary care clinic or to a brokerage case management model that linked patients to community-based services. Service use and clinical outcomes were collected at baseline, three months and six months post randomization on all participants.


RESULTS
Access to and participation in mental health /substance abuse services was greater in the integrated model than in referral; there were no treatment by ethnicity effects. There were no treatment effects for any of the clinical outcomes; Whites and older minorities in both integrated and referral groups failed to show clinically significant improvement in symptoms and physical functioning at 6 months.


CONCLUSIONS
While providing services in primary care results in better access to and use of these services, accessing these services is not enough for assuring adequate clinical outcomes.
Areán
Patricia A
PA
University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0984, USA. pata@lppi.ucsf.edu
Ayalon
Liat
L
Jin
Chengshi
C
McCulloch
Charles E
CE
Linkins
Karen
K
Chen
Hongtu
H
McDonnell-Herr
Betsy
B
Levkoff
Sue
S
Estes
Carroll
C
D000368:Aged; D003156:Community Mental Health Services; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006299:Health Services for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy*; D008913:Minority Groups; D017146:Models, Organizational; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011613:Psychotherapy; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome