The Behavioral Health Role in Patients’ Primary Care Essay

Introduction

Working in a healthcare industry implies constant improvement and relearning for professionals. Nowadays, this sphere is experiencing breakthroughs, and diseases that were deadly several decades ago can be cured now. However, some things never change, as one of the most important parts of healthcare was, and remains, the healthcare workers themselves. In recent years, the importance of behavioral health of patients has been highlighted. Even though some professionals diminish its importance, the behavioral health is a vital part of patients’ primary care.

Behavioral Health

Compared to conventional primary care, the integration of behavioral health care has shown better results in patients with chronic diseases. For this paper, the definition of behavioral health is derived from the study conducted by Crocker et al. (2021), where authors have broadly identified behavioral health as attention to details of patients’ family and their habits. It is vital that not only patients’ previous medical history, but also their living conditions and everyday life is taken into consideration by healthcare professionals. For instance, adolescents tend to experience more distress and prone to abusing substance when their parents express similar behaviors (Ng et al., 2020). As a result, knowledge about the family’s habits can be highly useful in treating patients.

Moreover, knowing patients’ background and identity can help to identify additional stressors. According to the results of randomized control trial conducted by Goldbach et al. (2021), the adolescents from gender and sexual minorities can experience more stress, anxiety, and these factors can be risk factors for their health. For some individuals, this is a highly sensitive information, and being able to earn patients’ trust in this case is important. Neglect of these vital details can lead to improper care and diagnosis.

Behavioral Health and Leadership

The importance of behavioral health is rising, but the implementation of it is still unclear. The importance of leadership can often be neglected, sometimes leading to failures in healthcare because of said neglect. People tend to expect medical leaders to be everything all at once: they need to oversee finances, oversee education and instruction, and legal side of healthcare (Chen, 2018). These are exceptional traits that should be within one person and being an inspiration to other healthcare workers is also a useful trait. If a leader in healthcare implements behavioral health, there is a great chance that others will follow their example. Moreover, leaders often tend to manage educational curricula, so they can add behavioral health as part of it.

Leadership can be a key in facilitating more behavioral approach in healthcare. One of the reasons why it can be complicated to implement behavior health among healthcare workers is their tiredness and burnout. For instance, in the U.S., “increased physician productivity expectations have led to shorter clinic visits and decreased time with patients” (Shanafelt et al. 2019, p. 1556). This issue indicates that there is less time for patients and therefore, less opportunities to provide comprehensive behavioral health care. Shanafelt et al. (2019) claims that this shift from overworking and increased productivity requires shift in culture, and this shift is a rather complex one. To be able to make a smooth transition, healthcare professionals need to have strong leadership and people who can guide them through this process.

Conclusion

To conclude, the behavior health is a significant part of patient care, and it needs to be acknowledged. It includes mental health, background of patients, and even details about their identity. This transition in healthcare needs to happen through strong leadership and encouragement from top to bottom, in order to ensure correct implementation.

Reference List

Chen, T. (2018). Medical leadership: An important and required competency for medical students. Tzu Chi Medical Journal, 30(2), 66.

Crocker, A., Kessler, R., van Eeghen, C., Bonnell, L., Breshears, R., & Callas, P. et al. (2021). Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care (IBH-PC) to improve patient-centered outcomes in adults with multiple chronic medical and behavioral health conditions: study protocol for a pragmatic cluster-randomized control trial. Trials, 22(1).

Goldbach, J., Rhoades, H., Mamey, M., Senese, J., Karys, P., & Marsiglia, F. (2021). Reducing behavioral health symptoms by addressing minority stressors in LGBTQ adolescents: a randomized controlled trial of Proud & Empowered.BMC Public Health, 21(1).

Ng, M., Tolou‐Shams, M., Galbraith, K., & Brown, L. (2019). Parent Psychological Distress: A Moderator of Behavioral Health Intervention Outcomes among Justice‐Involved Adolescents.Journal Of Research on Adolescence, 30(1), 53-62.

Shanafelt, T., Schein, E., Minor, L., Trockel, M., Schein, P., & Kirch, D. (2019). Healing the Professional Culture of Medicine. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 94(8), 1556-1566.