Blue Shield of California Foundation
Advancing Primary Care and Behavioral Health Integration through Community Collaboration
Advancing Equity
Gaps in access to behavioral healthcare persist for communities of color and other marginalized populations in California due to stigma, cost, and an absence of providers and care models that are linguistically and culturally relevant. Across California, communities are mobilizing to advocate for environments that support positive mental health.
Supporting Community Health Centers
Community health centers are an important hub for primary care, mental health and substance use treatment for low-income patients. Over the last decade, there has been significant growth in their capacity to deliver behavioral healthcare services that will likely continue as new policy opportunities drive ongoing integration and collaboration in local communities.
Building New Workforce Capacities
Delivering integrated care requires primary care, mental health, and substance use providers to build new capacities in their own fields, and work to strengthen their partnerships with each other. In many communities, innovative programs and new practices are being implemented to support a workforce geared toward integration..
Seizing Policy Opportunities
Improving the way that mental health and substance abuse conditions are treated is a goal that has risen to the top of the policy agenda here in California, and nationally, within the last decade. Local communities are taking advantage of new policy opportunities to create more effective services and systems of support for patients with behavioral healthcare needs.

"Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community" - World Health Organization
