Strategies for integrating public mental health services

Practical solutions to the issues troubling public mental health systems must be developed within the constraints of existing political structures. A key enabling factor is the inclusion of a broad range of reimbursable mental health benefits within health insurance. However, services cannot be improved without the development of viable frameworks for organizing effective service delivery; such strategies include assertive community treatment, capitation approaches, strong local mental health authorities, and reimbursement structures that achieve key objectives. The author discusses examples of the four strategies and argues for their better integration.