1. The Readiness for Integrated Care Questionnaire (RICQ): An instrument to assess readiness to integrate behavioral health and primary care
- Author
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Glenda Wrenn, Erin Godly-Reynolds, Tara Kenworthy, Sharon Rachel, Courtney McMickens, Sayon Cooper, Gilberte Bastien, Abraham Wandersman, Victoria C. Scott, and Jonathan Scaccia
- Subjects
Mental Health Services ,Integrated services ,MEDLINE ,PsycINFO ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) ,Nursing ,Health care ,Developmental and Educational Psychology ,Humans ,0501 psychology and cognitive sciences ,General knowledge ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Primary Health Care ,business.industry ,Delivery of Health Care, Integrated ,05 social sciences ,Health equity ,Integrated care ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,Health Care Surveys ,Psychology (miscellaneous) ,Psychology ,business ,050104 developmental & child psychology ,Health care quality - Abstract
Integration of behavioral health and primary care services is a promising approach for reducing health disparities. The growing national emphasis on care coordination has mobilized efforts to integrate behavioral health and primary care services across the United States. These efforts align with broader health care system goals of improving health care quality, health equity, utilization efficiency, and patient outcomes. Drawing from our work on a multiyear integrated care initiative (Integrated Care Leadership Program; ICLP) and an implementation science heuristic for organizational readiness (Readiness = Motivation x General Capacity and Innovation-Specific Capacity; R = MC2), this article describes the development and implementation of a tool to assess organizational readiness for integrated care, referred to as the Readiness for Integrated Care Questionnaire (RICQ). The tool was piloted with 11 health care practices that serve vulnerable, underprivileged populations. Initial results from the RICQ revealed that participating practices were generally high in motivation, innovation-specific capacities, and general capacities at the start of ICLP. Additionally, analyses indicated that practices particularly needed support with increasing staff capacities (general knowledge and skills), improving access to and use of resources, and simplifying the steps in integrating care so the effort appears less daunting and difficult to health care team members. We discuss insights from the initial use of RICQ and practical implications of the new tool for driving integrated care efforts that can contribute to health equity. (PsycINFO Database Record
- Published
- 2017