Director National Council for Mental Wellbeing Arlington, Virginia
Oral health, mental health and substance use challenges have historically been undertreated in the U.S., often with stark disparities in access. Although more integrated oral health, mental health, and substance use treatment services hold promise to increase access to care, improve patient outcomes, and potentially reduce health care costs, no comprehensive set of resources previously existed to support organizations interested in advancing the integration of these services. The National Council developed a framework and toolkit to help oral and behavioral health providers increase integration by offering practical suggestions, resources, and on-the-ground examples for implementing new care models across a continuum.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the rationale for increased integration between oral health, mental health, and substance use treatment services and the opportunities to address health equity and racial disparities.
Describe different models of integration across oral and behavioral health services.
Explain positive outcomes that could result from increasing integration across oral and behavioral health systems.
