This literature review from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health and the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health is a comprehensive resource on how the integration of behavioral health and primary care services for racial and ethnic minority populations, including individuals with limited English proficiency, can help eliminate health care disparities. The report compiles the available evidence from practice and summarizes the knowledge base on cultural and linguistic competence in health care delivery. The report served to inform a national consensus meeting to develop recommendations on the most promising approaches for engaging racial and ethnic minority populations and persons with limited English proficiency in integrated health care to improve health outcomes and reduce health and mental health disparities. To successfully translate the existing research on integrated health care into practice with vulnerable populations will require additional guidance and input from the community, consumers of health and behavioral health care and their family members, as well as national experts in the fields of health, mental health, substance use/abuse and cultural and linguistic competency.
Ignatius Bau 