Integrated mental health, substance use and concurrent disorder service delivery

Over the past 20 years, the case has resoundingly been made for the transformation of mental health and substance use care into a collaborative system of support. Recognizing that mental health and substance use concerns are often co-occurring, and having to access separate services can be a barrier to whole-person health, the integration of these services has been established as a best practice. Integrated care can be defined as “care that is delivered by providers from different specialties, disciplines, or sectors working together to offer complementary services and mutual support.” (Kates et. al., 2011)