Mente y Cuerpo: Integrating Mental Health Screening and complementary health practices into primary care

Mente y Cuerpo (Mind and Body) is a bilingual/bicultural program that seeks to integrate mental health screening, referrals and education into primary care. The program provides case management services to Latina women 18 and older.

The project has the goal of using evaluation research to change provider behavior and institutional systems so as to incorporate routine mental health screening into primary care, connect patients more effectively to needed mental health and related services and better integrate mental health concerns into the management of chronic diseases.

The project partnership consists of: Lead agency: The Boston Public Health Commission, which is the city's health department. Health Care Facilities: South End Community Health Center and Southern Jamaica Plain Health Center.

Pathways to Wellness Inc., is a local non profit providing acupuncture services to clients at both partnering health centers. Since July 2008, the project has provided 203 women with yoga and acupuncture services. All of the clients served were Latina women of varying ethnicities.

Funding for this project was received from the Office of Minority Health in September 2007. Funding has been pivotal in the provision of bilingual bicultural staff to partnering project health centers. Mental health screening, case management and referrals to acupuncture and yoga are being tracked over three years.