Family doctors and psychologists working together: doctors' and patients' perspectives

Background  Strategies to improve primary care in the Canadian Primary Care Reform include integrating different professionals to the medical team. Objective  This demonstration project explores the perceived impact on doctors and patients, of having family doctors and psychologists work together. S...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of evaluation in clinical practice 2011-04, Vol.17 (2), p.282-287
Main Authors: Chomienne, Marie-Hélène, Grenier, Jean, Gaboury, Isabelle, Hogg, William, Ritchie, Pierre, Farmanova-Haynes, Elina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Child
collaboration
Cooperative Behavior
family practice
Female
Humans
Interdisciplinary Communication
Interprofessional Relations
Male
Middle Aged
Ontario
Patient Satisfaction
Physicians, Family - psychology
primary care
Primary Health Care
primary mental health care
psychologist
Psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult
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Summary:Background  Strategies to improve primary care in the Canadian Primary Care Reform include integrating different professionals to the medical team. Objective  This demonstration project explores the perceived impact on doctors and patients, of having family doctors and psychologists work together. Setting  Two family practices of Eastern Ontario, Canada Methods  Two board certified psychologists (one per practice) were integrated in the practices for 12 months. Psychologists conducted assessments, consultations and short‐term treatments, as well as knowledge‐transfer sessions for doctors. Outcome measures included referral patterns, patient outcomes, patient and provider satisfaction as well as doctors' billing. Results  Three hundred and seventy‐six participants received psychological care; most were women (68%) and between the ages of 25–64 (67%). Anxiety and depression were the most prevalent diagnoses. Reasons for referral included: psychological treatment (70%); emotional support and counselling (35%); clarification of diagnosis and case conceptualization (25%). Referrals could be for more than one reason. After intervention, 60% of patients had improvement on the outcome questionnaire‐45 (OQ‐45). Quality of life as measured by the EuroQol‐5D also improved (P 
ISSN:1356-1294
1365-2753
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2753.2010.01437.x