TY - JOUR
T1 - Integrated primary care and social work
T2 - A systematic review
AU - Fraser, Mark W.
AU - Lombardi, Brianna M.
AU - Wu, Shiyou
AU - Zerden, Lisa de Saxe
AU - Richman, Erica L.
AU - Fraher, Erin P.
N1 - Funding Information:
Researcher allegiance and sponsorship bias. Finally, recent reports suggest that researcher allegiance and sponsorship bias may be underestimated in systematic reviews (Uttley & Montgomery, 2017). This project was supported by a contract from a HRSA-funded workforce center to the first author. In addition, the fourth author serves as the principal investigator of a HRSA-funded training grant intended to prepare social workers for practice in integrated primary care. The first three authors were deeply involved in the preparation of this proposal. Finally, five of the six authors are social work researchers by training, and the sixth author is a health workforce researcher. In the spirit of full transparency, the team clearly had an allegiance to social work and interest in clarifying the roles and impact of interprofessional teams involving social workers in integrated primary care.
Funding Information:
This research was funded through the Health Workforce Research Centers with the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, Bureau of Health Professions, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS; Cooperative Agreement U81HP26495). The content and conclusions are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. government; no endorsements should be inferred.
Funding Information:
To reduce publication bias (i.e., bias introduced by sampling only published reports), the fifth phase focused on the gray literature and on studies that might have been overlooked because they did not explicitly identify social workers as having been involved in the provision of services. Authors who had published conference abstracts identified in the search were contacted and asked if study findings were available as “in press” or other reports. Using the search terms, we also queried the U.S. National Institutes of Health RePORT, a searchable online index of research grants funded by the National Institutes of Health; this search was intended to identify funded studies that might meet eligibility criteria and have prepublication reports. Finally, to identify and include possibly overlooked studies, we contacted the lead authors of excluded reports if (a) a coauthor was identified as a social worker, or (b) social work practitioners were thanked in the acknowledgements for contributing to a study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 by the Society for Social Work and Research. All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/6/1
Y1 - 2018/6/1
N2 - Objective: Behavioral and physical health services are increasingly being integrated, with care provided by interprofessional teams of physicians, nurses, social workers, and other professionals. The objective of this study was to describe the functions of social workers on interprofessional teams in primary care and to assess the impact of interprofessional teams that include social workers in integrated care settings. Method: We undertook a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of routine vs. integrated primary care where social workers served on interprofessional teams. A 5-phase search process to identify RCTs from 9 electronic databases and the gray literature published between 2000 and 2016 was used. We calculated effect sizes across identified studies and conducted 2 subsample meta-analyses for behavioral health outcomes. Results: The searches recovered 502 citations. After screening, 107 reports were retained for a full-text review, and 32 of those (from 26 RCTs) met study criteria. In the 26 RCTs, social workers engaged in 3 patient-centered activities: behavioral health treatment, care management, and referral for social services. Conclusion: Although mixed, the findings suggest that, compared to routine services, integrated primary care provided by interprofessional teams that include social workers significantly improves the behavioral health and care of patients.
AB - Objective: Behavioral and physical health services are increasingly being integrated, with care provided by interprofessional teams of physicians, nurses, social workers, and other professionals. The objective of this study was to describe the functions of social workers on interprofessional teams in primary care and to assess the impact of interprofessional teams that include social workers in integrated care settings. Method: We undertook a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of routine vs. integrated primary care where social workers served on interprofessional teams. A 5-phase search process to identify RCTs from 9 electronic databases and the gray literature published between 2000 and 2016 was used. We calculated effect sizes across identified studies and conducted 2 subsample meta-analyses for behavioral health outcomes. Results: The searches recovered 502 citations. After screening, 107 reports were retained for a full-text review, and 32 of those (from 26 RCTs) met study criteria. In the 26 RCTs, social workers engaged in 3 patient-centered activities: behavioral health treatment, care management, and referral for social services. Conclusion: Although mixed, the findings suggest that, compared to routine services, integrated primary care provided by interprofessional teams that include social workers significantly improves the behavioral health and care of patients.
KW - Integrated behavioral health
KW - Integrated care
KW - Integrated primary care
KW - Social work
KW - Social worker
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U2 - 10.1086/697567
DO - 10.1086/697567
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85046023827
SN - 2334-2315
VL - 9
SP - 175
EP - 215
JO - Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research
JF - Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research
IS - 2
ER -