In 2018, a Health Affairs article written by CHRT staff and staff from The Kresge Foundation argued that the integration of health and human service systems could effectively diminish health disparities, and that community life—and human lives—would be better served through organized collaboration and coordination.

However, significant barriers stood, and continue to stand, in the way of integration, including:

• siloed government departments,
• data systems that don’t allow treatment partners to collaborate,
• decentralized funding sources, and more.

These and other barriers present significant challenges for all of those who wish to advance integration, better serve clients, and achieve health equity. But while there is a strong evidence base to support the value of integration, we have mountains of work ahead of us.

On this page, we share resources we have developed to improve health through integration.

• EVOLVE: A new framework for integration.
• How integrated are you? A continuum of health and human services integration.
• Michigan physicians screen patients for social needs. What happens next?
• A financial impact calculator for pediatric practices exploring the economic feasibility of behavioral health integration.
• An evaluation of the Pediatric Integrated Healthcare Model at two pediatric practices in Wayne County, MI
• The advantages of becoming a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC)–for organizations, communities.
• Nine lessons for leaders of health and human services integration (and for the grantmakers that want them to succeed).
• Strengthening public health through integration with primary care: State and local efforts
  • North Carolina state profile: Public health and primary care collaboration
  • Oregon state profile: Public health and primary care collaboration
  • Rhode Island state profile: Public health and primary care collaboration
  • Washington state profile: Public health and primary care collaboration

Since our inception in 2007, we have explored the value of integration—organized collaboration and coordination between health systems, primary care organizations, behavioral health providers, social service providers, payors, and public health systems–to improve health and health equity. CHRT’s leadership and staff draw on their depth of experience in health policy, social service needs, and community-based organizations within Michigan and nationally, to understand the connection between social needs and health, and to build bridges between siloed agencies as a way to improve population health.