SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Health Serv.
Sec. Mental Health Services
Volume 5 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frhs.2025.1570100
This article is part of the Research TopicBehavioral and Medical Comorbidity: Identifying Challenges and Transforming Systems of CareView all 11 articles
Strengthening the Delivery of Integrated Physical Health Care for Adults Experiencing Serious Mental Illness: A Scoping Review of Interventions in Mental Health Settings
Provisionally accepted- 1The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 2Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 3Waypoint Research Institute, Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care, Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada
- 4Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 5Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 6Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, Whitby, Ontario, Canada
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Individuals living with serious mental illness (SMI) face significant barriers to accessing appropriate physical health care, poorer associated health outcomes and premature mortality compared to the general population. This scoping review examines service delivery models and clinical practices supporting the integration of physical health care for adults with SMI within mental health settings, and their outcomes. Searches of four academic databases yielded 65 academic articles. Most integrated service delivery models were implemented in community mental health settings in the United States and incorporated elements of Wagner's Chronic Care Model, emphasizing delivery-system redesign, patient self-management support and use of clinical information systems. In most outcome studies, integrated care models were associated with improvements in primary care access and preventative screening rates, while other physical health indicators and emergency and inpatient service use demonstrated promising but mixed results. Implementation challenges of integrated service delivery models included securing financial resources and maintaining effective use of clinical information systems, among others. Successful implementation was facilitated by effective teamwork, care coordination, and administrative and leadership support. Study findings highlight the complexity of integrating physical health care in mental health settings, and the longer timeframes needed to observe changes in some outcomes. The review further underscores the need for ongoing efforts to advance integrated care delivery in mental health settings and the importance of longitudinal data collection to fully assess and optimize the implementation and outcomes of these interventions.
Keywords: serious mental illness, Integrated Care, Reverse integration, premature mortality, Service delivery
Received: 02 Feb 2025; Accepted: 30 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ambreen, Zhang, Melamed, Canning, Lo, Agarwal, Burhan, Del Giudice, Rose Van Kesteren, Konkolÿ Thege, Sockalingam, Rodak, Tajirian, Walker and Stergiopoulos. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Vicky Stergiopoulos, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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