Abstract

Mental illness is shown to increase healthcare costs and decrease quality and length of life. Barriers to access care must be removed in order to help increase access to vital behavioral health services. This project is a mixed methodology study including a retrospective chart review and qualitative analysis of barriers to access to care. The researcher worked with Dr. Carl Vaccaro, DO at the AtlantiCare Primary Care Plus practice in North Cape May, NJ to identify barriers to access to behavioral health care for patients aged 18 and over referred from the primary care setting. The patients participating in the study all had a behavioral health diagnosis identified by the primary care provider. The researcher also worked with the provider to identify real and perceived structural and attitudinal barriers to referring patients for behavioral health services in this area. Several attitudinal and structural barriers were identified as a result of this research. Once barriers were identified, the researcher provided a report to the AtlantiCare organization that included the barriers as well as evidence-based interventions to address the barriers.

Cheneen Austin

Author Details

Cheneen Austin, DNP, RN

Sigma Membership

Unknown

Type

Dissertation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Other

Research Approach

Mixed/Multi Method Research

Keywords:

Mental Illness, Behavioral Healthcare

Advisors

Caldwell, Barbara||Vaccaro, Carl

Degree

DNP

Degree Grantor

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Degree Year

2018

Rights Holder

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All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Date of Issue

2018-06-05

Full Text of Presentation

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