Collaborative Medicine Case Studies: Evidence in Practice

Just as the mind and body collaborate in maintaining one's health, collaboration between primary and behavioral health care can bring patients more effective, long-term treatment and better long-term medical results, from better compliance with or less dependence on medication to more effective use of health care services.

Collaborative Medicine Case Studies shows physicians and behavioral health practitioners working together across a variety of settings to assess and treat entrenched illnesses, combined physical and psychological conditions (back pain/panic attacks, diabetes/depression), and disorders that defy straightforward diagnosis. At the same time, the cases reflect the economic and administrative realities of contemporary health care.

The cases discussed generate creative solutions using different levels of collaboration depending on patient need and site variables, but all share important similarities: close communication, careful follow-up by physician and behavioral health collaborators, and patients who would not have been treated as effectively without collaborative care. Blending research evidence, clinical insight, welcome humor, and realistic optimism, these cases demonstrate impressive successes, instructive setbacks, and comparative viewpoints while shedding light on the logistical, financial, and training challenges of integrative practice.

A sampling of the three dozen cases: The head and the brain: migraines, orofacial pain, tinnitus. Comorbid PTSD and persistent pain. Individuals and couples with complex medical/emotional problems. Chronic illnesses: obesity, spina bifida, cardiovascular disease. A Hmong woman's post-immigration depression. Patientswho keep coming back without treatment success. Chronic pelvic pain, The ER: adolescents, asthma and burn.

Collaborative Medicine Case Studies is a blueprint for a vanguard in care, not only for physicians and psychologists but also for professionals and graduate students in health psychology and health care administration and finance.