Low-income, uninsured immigrants are burdened by poverty and a high prevalence of trauma exposure and thus are vulnerable to mental health problems. Disparities in access to mental health services highlight the importance of adapting evidence-based interventions in primary care settings that serve this population. In 2005, the Montgomery Cares Behavioral Health Program began adapting and implementing a collaborative care model for the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders in a network of primary care clinics that serve low-income, uninsured residents of Montgomery County, Maryland, the majority of whom are immigrants. In its 6th year now, the program has generated much needed knowledge about the adaptation of this evidence-based model. The current article describes the adaptations to the traditional collaborative care model that were necessitated by patient characteristics and the clinic environment. © 2011 American Orthopsychiatric Association.

immigrants trauma Primary care clinic Montgomery cares behavioral health program Collaborative care poverty

immigrant primary medical care medically uninsured lowest income group poverty human community Evidence-Based Practice mental health care Health Services Needs and Demand program development mental disease evidence based practice health program Humans model male Emigrants and Immigrants female prevalence Community Mental Health Services Article major clinical study adult posttraumatic stress disorder primary health care