Mind and Medicine: Integrating Mental Health into Primary Care

West Health and Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute are hosting a congressional briefing titled Mind & Medicine: Integrating Mental Health into Primary Care on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, in the House Budget Committee Hearing Room, 210 CHOB.

More than a third of adults in the U.S. with a mental health condition never receive treatment, and most who do receive it from a primary care clinician. The Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) integrates mental health care into a primary care or specialty medical care setting using a team-based approach. With more than 100 randomized controlled trials behind it and a track record of better clinical outcomes at lower total cost, CoCM is the integrated behavioral health care model with the strongest evidence base for addressing mental health needs within the primary care space.

Join experts from Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, Northwestern Medicine, and West Health for a discussion of what the evidence shows, what stands in the way of wider adoption, and how policymakers could help extend the behavioral health workforce and increase access to quality mental health care.