TY - JOUR
AU - K. A. Dodge
A1 - 
AB - Although psychological science has contributed enormously to our understanding of the development of psychopathology and to interventions to treat psychiatric disorders, it has not successfully reduced the burden of mental illness in American communities. Factors include the lack of a mandate of population impact, stigma attached to mental health intervention, difficulty scaling up interventions, and problems in financing prevention. The concept of primary mental health care is introduced as a possible solution; components could include universal reach, universal brief interventions, screening and referral, ongoing support to all individuals, an infrastructure of specialized services, and an integrated data system. Promising examples of the primary mental health care approach are described, including PROSPER, Communities That Care, Triple P, Family Check-Up, HealthySteps, Family Connects, and Community Navigation. For these efforts to succeed, challenges must be overcome in labor force participation, reaching the full population, novel approaches to delivery of interventions, cultural adaptation, community-level interventions, financing, and scientific inquiry.
AD - Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA; email: dodge@duke.edu.
AN - 41330398
BT - Annu Rev Clin Psychol
C5 - General Literature
CP - 1
DA - 05/2026
DO - 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-061724-081312
DP - NLM
ET - 20251202
IS - 1
JF - Annu Rev Clin Psychol
LA - eng
N2 - Although psychological science has contributed enormously to our understanding of the development of psychopathology and to interventions to treat psychiatric disorders, it has not successfully reduced the burden of mental illness in American communities. Factors include the lack of a mandate of population impact, stigma attached to mental health intervention, difficulty scaling up interventions, and problems in financing prevention. The concept of primary mental health care is introduced as a possible solution; components could include universal reach, universal brief interventions, screening and referral, ongoing support to all individuals, an infrastructure of specialized services, and an integrated data system. Promising examples of the primary mental health care approach are described, including PROSPER, Communities That Care, Triple P, Family Check-Up, HealthySteps, Family Connects, and Community Navigation. For these efforts to succeed, challenges must be overcome in labor force participation, reaching the full population, novel approaches to delivery of interventions, cultural adaptation, community-level interventions, financing, and scientific inquiry.
PY - 2026
SN - 1548-5943
SP - 135
EP - 154+
ST - Primary Mental Health Care
T1 - Primary Mental Health Care
T2 - Annu Rev Clin Psychol
TI - Primary Mental Health Care
U1 - General Literature
U3 - 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-061724-081312
VL - 22
VO - 1548-5943
Y1 - 2026
ER -