Collaborative Medicine Case Studies: Evidence in Practice - Hardcover

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Rodger Kessler is a clinical psychologist who has been doing research in the area of integration of primary health care and mental health care for the past 15 years. Dr. Kessler created a five site medical practice where behavioral health clinicians can deliver evidence-based, integrated medical psychological care. Dr. Kessler’s current research focuses on patient compliance with psychological referral in an integrated practice, and the impact of integrated medical psychological care on medical and cost outcomes. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and a Past President of the Vermont Psychological Association.

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Collaborative Medicine Case Studies

Evidence in Practice

Edited by Rodger Kessler and Dale Stafford, Berlin Family Health, Montpelier, Vermont and Department of Family Medicine University of Vermont College of Medicine

Just as the mind and body collaborate in maintaining one’s health, collaboration between primary and behavioral health care can bring patients more efficacious treatment and better long-term 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 mental 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/bipolar disorder), and cases that defy straightforward diagnosis. At the same time, the cases reflect the economic and financial 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.
• Chronicillnesses: obesity, spina bifida, cardiovascular disease.
• A Hmong woman’s post-immigration depression.
• A physician with anorexia
• Burn patients who keep coming back without treatment success.

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.