Collaboration between a mental healthcare provider and their patient is a key quality of any successful wellness journey. If a patient feels like they aren’t being heard, or like they’re being judged or lectured, they may not feel engaged in their treatment which can interfere with their progress. That’s why collaborative care models (CoCM) are being seen as the standard for behavioral health.
The collaborative care model embodies what it means for a patient’s care to be a team effort. When you’re trying to market your practice’s CoCM, using search engine optimization and content marketing can showcase your collaborative nature. You can encourage education and engagement that will move patients along their mental health journey.
Read on to learn what it means to have a CoCM and the challenges that can come from trying to teach patients about it. Then we’ll discuss how SEO and content can help you address those challenges.
What is a collaborative care model in mental health?
A collaborative care model is a type of structured approach used by medical providers. It means prioritizing patient-centered mental healthcare by having primary care physicians, therapists and psychiatric consultants work together. Essentially, it brings together a patient’s entire healthcare team to move them along their mental health journey as effectively as possible.
Utilizing a collaborative care model involves several core aspects including:
- Using tools like the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) for measurement-based care
- Regular psychiatric consultations throughout treatment
- Following-up and figuring out next steps with a care manager
The CoCM is beneficial in mental health for a variety of reasons, including that it:
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Addresses staffing shortages
It’s not uncommon for patients and their particular needs to slip through the cracks due to a staffing shortage. But with the collaborative care model, you’re expanding the reach and impact of every specialized staff member that is available so that the patient receives support, regardless of a practice’s employee count.
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Enhances continuity of care
A person’s mental health needs ebb and flow, which means that the support that they receive should as well. It’s important that, even after they complete a part of their treatment, they still have access to the resources and support team they need as they navigate future challenges. A CoCM allows the baton to be passed along to providers that fit the patient’s current needs so that the patient is always cared for.
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Reduces stigma through integrated service delivery
There’s a stigma that mental health treatment is something that a person should be ashamed of or think of less of themselves for seeking. The good news is that the stigma has been slowly losing steam with the power of social media and people prioritizing their self-care. But it’s still lurking. A CoCM encourages integrated services in a person’s health journey, both physically and mentally, to show that every part of who you are deserves to be supported.
3 challenges of educating patients about collaborative care
Transparency and trust are essential for mental health providers, which means that your patients should have an understanding of how you’ll approach their care. While CoCM can be a highly effective structure, your patients may still voice concerns while you’re trying to inform them about it.
Here are three potential challenges mental health organizations face educating patients about collaborative care:
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Misconceptions around mental health
It’s possible that while you’re discussing collaborative care with your patient, they still have a fear of judgment from non-mental health providers due to the stigma some associate with seeking mental health. They may also worry about being misunderstood as their challenges are discussed by others. They might also not understand how it’s different from the traditional therapy route that they may or may not have experience with.
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Low health literacy
Patients should do their own research on their health concerns so that they’re able to gain a better grasp of their challenges and advocate for their own health. But they also might have a very narrow understanding of what mental healthcare looks like due to preconceptions or a lack of exposure to diverse, credible sources of information. When they don’t prioritize their health literacy, then they might not be able to understand the different types of care that they may receive such as collaborative care.
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Fragmented digital experience
If your site, or the site of other mental health providers, doesn’t provide accurate, easy-to-digest explanations of the care structure, including CoCM, the patient may feel uncertain about what to expect from their treatment. They may also be seeing outdated explanations of what a team-based care model is.
3 ways SEO and content marketing can help you overcome these challenges
We’ve already discussed the problems, but now it’s time to look at the solutions. When it comes to the collaborative care model, your SEO and content marketing can play a significant role in helping you to educate patients about collaborative care. Here are three ways SEO and content can help:
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Develop empathetic content
When dealing with stigma surrounding important, sometimes difficult, topics like mental health, you should always lead with empathy. And that should be evident in your content.
You can play a role in destigmatizing mental health by creating blog posts, videos and social media posts that make people feel less alone when they’re struggling. You can optimize your content for the search engine algorithm by creating content for conversational queries that relate to collaborative care, like “What type of provider can help my depression?”
Be sure to use compassionate language that takes the user’s complex emotions into account so that they feel validated and understood. Adding first-person patient stories and videos can also help bolster their trust in you.
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Use structured, accessible content to boost patient understanding
Your content should always be patient-focused. When you’re creating a post, you should be asking yourself, “What does the patient want to gain from this?” That’s why your website’s content should be accessible and easy to understand.
SEO-friendly content is structured with schema markup and a clear heading hierarchy. Not only does this improve readability and “scanability,” but it can also help the page to rank better on relevant search engine results pages (SERPs).
A few content options that can boost patient understanding of collaborative care include:
- Team bios with roles explained in simple terms
- Infographics guiding the user through the care journey in a CoCM
- Sections explaining relevant terms like “care manager”
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Local and niche content optimization
The more specific your content can get, the better. You want to meet people at any point they may be at in their mental health journey. And as a healthcare provider, you want to focus on serving your surrounding areas. That’s why you should prioritize using long-tail keywords (three or more words) that are relevant to the local population. One long-tail keyword example is “collaborative mental healthcare in [city].”
You can create pages targeting specific communities, such as teens and postpartum patients, mentioning how collaborative care can benefit them during their mental healthcare journey. You can also have local service pages that showcase how collaborative care is handled in your facility.
Want to attract new patients to your website to showcase your collaborative care? BURG+CO. can help
Collaborative care can be a way for mental health providers to ensure that patients are receiving the comprehensive support they need to continue working toward becoming the best version of themselves. If you’re ready to incorporate CoCM as a focal point in your patient engagement strategy efforts, then BURG+CO. can help you with the SEO and content marketing aspects to help you get the traffic you’re looking for.
Our team has years of experience in helping healthcare brands improve their digital presence to attract new patients and retain existing ones. If you’re looking to perform better in search engine results and attract more potential patients to your site, we’re ready to talk to you to see how we can help.
Want expert support with your digital marketing? Connect with BURG+CO. today to explore how we can help your healthcare brand grow.