Rural Integrated Primary Care Psychiatry Programme: a systems approach to education, training and service integration

Abstract

Objective: To describe the development of a rural primary care psychiatry programme, within a stepped collaborative care model.

Conclusion: Development of a system-wide approach to the provision of mental health services offers the opportunity to increase the proportion of people with mental health problems who receive effective treatment. In addition, it enables allocation of resources and matching of interventions to patient preference and clinical need. This is particularly important in rural areas where there is a shortage of specialist mental health services and practitioners.