A multidisciplinary, team approach to health care delivery education is valued by health sciences students and faculty, according to a Rutgers Health study. Integrated care – a coordinated approach that addresses patients’ physical, mental and social health needs – has been shown to improve patient outcomes, reduce health care costs and address health disparities. Since 2019, the Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care’s Center for Integrated Care has served as a hub for integrated care education and training at Rutgers Health while providing clinical services with partners throughout New Jersey.
Researchers at the center have published one of the first studies to assesses perceptions and barriers to integrated care training and practice across multiple health professions. In the study, published in the Journal of Integrated Care, researchers surveyed 220 Rutgers faculty, clinicians and students from a multidisciplinary perspective – including the university’s schools of medicine, pharmacy, psychology, dental medicine, health professions, nursing, social work and clinicians at University Behavioral Health Center – about their experience in collaborative care education and obstacles to training. To read the full story.