Background: Persons with serious mental illnesses (SMIs) experience disparities in health care and are more likely to die from physical health conditions than the general population. Behavioral health homes are used in public sector mental health programs to deploy collaborative care to improve physical health for those with SMIs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these programs faced new challenges in delivering care to this vulnerable group.
Purpose: To describe barriers to implementing or sustaining behavioral health homes, experienced by community mental health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the strategies used to address these challenges.
Methods: In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted among the behavioral health workforce in Maryland and Michigan community mental health programs. Interview questions were derived from the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), and responses related to implementing and sustaining health homes during the pandemic were coded and themes were analyzed by using an inductive approach.
Results: Overall, 72 staff members across 21 sites in Maryland and Michigan were interviewed. Implementation barriers/strategies identified occurred across multiple CFIR domains (client, mental health system, physical health system). Interviewees discussed technologic and nontechnologic challenges as well as strategies to address technology issues. Strategies were more frequently discussed by providers when the barrier was viewed at the client level (eg, low technology literacy) versus the broader system (eg, canceled primary care visits).
Conclusions: Community mental health staff described barriers beyond technology in caring for individuals with SMIs and physical health conditions. Further research should examine how implementation strategies address both technologic and nontechnologic barriers to collaborative care.
Keywords: Access to Care; COVID-19; Community Mental Health Services; Implementation Science; Telehealth.