Implementing Collaborative Care for Co-Occurring Disorders in low-resourced settings

Katherine Watkins, MD, MSHS
RAND Corporation

ABSTRACT:
Untreated co-occurring opioid use disorders and mental illness are prevalent and can have devastating consequences for the individual, their families, and the community. The Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) improves outcomes by addressing problems in access and quality for primary care patients with common behavioral health conditions but has not been implemented and tested for co-occurring disorders. This presentation will describe the development and implementation of a CoCM program for co-occurring opioid and mental health disorders in 17 primary care clinics in New Mexico and California. Using Proctor et al.’s 2011/2022 taxonomy of implementation outcomes and data from an ongoing clinical trial, we present the methods used to assess implementation outcomes and results of implementation efforts on model reach and fidelity. We compare the characteristics of individuals who received an initial session with a care coordinator with those whom the care coordinator was unable to engage. Understanding who does and does not receive CC may aid in developing implementation strategies to increase reach and fidelity