Improving Access to Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Services
The United States of America is facing an acute mental health and substance use crisis. As the demand for services to treat mental health and substance use disorders (MHSUD) keeps increasing, the health care system in this country has struggled to meet this growing need. Americans seeking treatment for MHSUDs, especially those from underserved communities, face numerous barriers to accessing MHSUD services and multifaceted solutions are necessary to reduce or remove these barriers. The various components of the MHSUD access puzzle include: mitigating behavioral health workforce shortages; assessing system capacity; exploring innovative solutions like telehealth and integration with primary care; removing financial barriers; and reducing stigma, cultural and awareness-related barriers.
With support from the National Institute for Health Care Reform, CHIR researchers are conducting qualitative research to examine the effectiveness of various efforts to improve MHSUD treatment access. This research will be published in a series of five reports, each of which will focus on a unique domain of MHSUD access.
As of October 2024, CHIR researchers have published the first of the five reports, which focuses on mitigating behavioral health workforce shortages.
