Treating the Whole Patient UW Faculty Drives Inventive
Approaches to Mental Health Care Dr. Jürgen Unützer knew his
research into new models of mental heath care delivery was on
the right track when a patient described feeling like a tennis
ball. This patient had a combination of health problems
associated with diabetes along with alcohol problems and
depression. As is common in the current health care system, the
patient was being bounced around to different specialists to
treat his individual symptoms. Dr. Unützer was concerned that
patients like this, with a combination of behavioral health and
medical conditions, were falling through the cracks and not
receiving care that treats the whole person. "The patient
expects that the various providers are all talking to each
other, but that is often not the case," he says. "Who’s
connecting the dots? Patients expect their care providers to
sync up and know what’s going on with all of their conditions."
Researchers and professors at the UW, such as Dr. Unützer, ar