ABSTRACT
This chapter offers concrete ideas regarding how to manage the interface between mental/behavioural health and medical care, and a case example of an early screening tool for presymptomatic behaviour disorders in children and adolescents. It reviews the dilemmas encountered with integrated care, distinguish integrated care from collaborative care and note some examples of integrated care from low-income as well as higher-income countries. The chapter presents several examples of specific methods of communication, and a case-study of integration. The value of the model is to organize thinking about integrating medical and mental health care by understanding the needs of the clinic population. An additional way to meet the needs of the population the team is to serve is through conscious selection of the level of collaboration required for that population. The operational view clarifies how someone might function, and determines who does the care as well as when.
