Practical Opportunities for Biopsychosocial Education Through Strategic Interprofessional Experiences in Integrated Primary Care

Abstract

Even with the expansion of primary care teams to include behavioral health and other providers from a range of disciplines, providers are regularly challenged to deliver care that adequately addresses the complex array of biopsychosocial factors underlying the patient's presenting concern. The limits of expertise, the ever-changing shifts in evidence-based practices, and the difficulties of interprofessional teamwork contribute to the challenge. In this article, we discuss the opportunity to leverage the interprofessional team-based care activities within integrated primary care settings as interactive educational opportunities to build competencies in biopsychosocial care among primary care team members. We argue that this approach to learning while providing direct patient care not only facilitates new provider knowledge and skills, but also provides a venue to enhance team processes that are key to delivering integrated biopsychosocial care to patients. We provide three case examples of how to utilize strategic planning within specific team-based care activities common in integrated primary care settings—shared medical appointments, conjoint appointments, and team huddles—to facilitate educational objectives.

Integrated primary care psychology training programs: Challenges and strategies.

“…The frequency and intensity of team-based activities that happen in the organizations influence trainee opportunities to take part in shadowing and on-the-job training during conjoint visits, warm handoffs, and curbside consultations with primary care teams. Some training programs in our study had fewer than desired cross-training opportunities and curriculum for medical residents and psychology trainees, due to limited organizational support and structures that facilitated coordination and collaboration across disciplines (Funderburk, Gass, et al, 2021; Kearney et al, 2020). Concrete examples of how organizations can support team-based care and training could include partnering with training programs to conduct quality improvement initiatives that aim to increase integration in clinics, having top-down leadership in creating clear vision and measurable goals to inform integrated care training and practice standards within the organization, providing incentives, protected FTE and flexibility for cross-training curriculum development, supervision, and professional development opportunities for all staff on training related to integrated primary care.…”

Biopsychosocial Management of Rural Ankylosing Spondylitis in a Pregnant Woman: A Case Report

“…Education is a critical component of family medicine, where physicians often serve as educators for their patients and families [ 12 ]. In this case, patient and family education about AS and its implications for breastfeeding and childcare empowered informed decision-making, demonstrating the value of education in MCH.…”

The Impact of Psychosocial Factors of Physical Health Outcomes: A Review of the Biopsychosocial Model in Family Medicine

“…By including people in the behavioral health provider (BHP) community, who have complementary and specialized skill sets, in teams, the change toward collaborative treatment in PC settings aims to help close these gaps and enhance the quality of patient care as psychologists, social workers. These new team members are equipped with the abilities to help family physicians better communicate with and assist patients [9]. Family medicine doctor do not use biopsychosocial medicine in their practices, and the biopsychosocial model has not advanced very quickly.…”