Chinese-speaking collaborative care is behavioral health treatment delivered in Mandarin or Cantonese through your regular primary care practice, not a separate clinic. A Chinese-speaking care manager works alongside your doctor and a psychiatric consultant to treat depression, anxiety, and related conditions — so language and culture are never the reason care gets missed.

For many Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking New Yorkers, the hardest part of getting mental health help was never motivation. It was finding care that speaks the language, understands the culture, and doesn't require navigating a fragmented system alone. Collaborative care is designed to remove exactly those barriers.

Why does language matter so much in behavioral health?

Behavioral health is different from most of medicine: the treatment *is* the conversation. A blood pressure cuff works the same in any language; a depression screening, a therapy check-in, and a medication conversation do not. When care is delivered through an interpreter or not at all, symptoms get under-reported, stigma goes unaddressed, and patients drop out early.

In New York's Chinese communities, this shows up as a wide gap between how much behavioral health need exists and how little of it is treated. The problem is rarely that patients don't want help — it's that in-language, culturally-attuned help has been genuinely hard to find.

How does Chinese-speaking collaborative care work?

Collaborative care (the "Collaborative Care Model," or CoCM) is an evidence-based approach with more than 90 randomized controlled trials behind it. Instead of referring a patient out to a separate psychiatrist — a referral that more than half of patients never complete — it builds a small team around the primary care practice the patient already trusts:

• A Chinese-speaking behavioral health care manager who checks in regularly, tracks symptoms with validated tools (like the PHQ-9 for depression and GAD-7 for anxiety), and coordinates the plan — in Mandarin or Cantonese.
• The patient's own primary care doctor, who prescribes and manages treatment with support.
• A consulting psychiatrist, who reviews the caseload and advises on adjustments without the patient needing a separate appointment.

Care is *measurement-based*: the team tracks whether symptoms are actually improving and changes the plan when they aren't, rather than assuming a single referral solved the problem.

Where does Integral Health provide this in New York?

Integral Health partners with primary care practices across New York to embed collaborative care — including Western New York (the Buffalo region) and New York City, where it works with Chinese-American physician networks and community primary care practices. Because the care is delivered *inside* the primary care practice, patients get behavioral health support at the office they already visit, with staff who speak their language.

If your primary care practice already partners with Integral Health, you may be able to access this support directly. If it doesn't yet, practices can add collaborative care to serve their Chinese-speaking patients.

What conditions can it help with?

Collaborative care in primary care is most effective for common, treatable conditions, including:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Stress- and adjustment-related conditions
• Behavioral health needs that co-occur with chronic illness (such as diabetes or hypertension), where untreated depression or anxiety makes the physical condition harder to control

It is not a replacement for emergency or specialty psychiatric care, but for the large majority of patients whose needs are common and treatable, it delivers specialist-level treatment in the primary care setting.

How is it paid for?

Collaborative care is a covered benefit under Medicare and, in New York, under Medicaid — the programs that cover a large share of the communities carrying the heaviest behavioral health burden. Because it's billed through established codes, patients typically access it as part of their primary care, without a separate specialty visit. Coverage specifics depend on your plan, so confirm with your practice.

How do I get started?

1. Ask your primary care doctor whether their practice offers collaborative care with in-language support. 2. If your practice partners with Integral Health, ask to be connected with a Chinese-speaking care manager. 3. If you're a primary care practice serving Chinese-speaking patients, adding collaborative care lets you treat behavioral health in-language, in-house, and get reimbursed for it.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a Chinese-speaking therapist available through collaborative care in New York?

Collaborative care provides Chinese-speaking behavioral health care managers and access to providers who deliver treatment in Mandarin or Cantonese, coordinated with your primary care doctor and a consulting psychiatrist — rather than a stand-alone therapist you have to find and reach on your own.

What's the difference between a therapist and a care manager?

A behavioral health care manager coordinates and delivers structured support — regular check-ins, symptom tracking, and treatment coordination — as part of a team. In collaborative care, that team also includes your doctor and a psychiatric consultant, which is often faster to access than a solo therapist.

Do I need a referral to a separate clinic?

No. That's the point of the model — care happens inside your primary care practice, not at a separate behavioral health clinic across town.

Is my information kept private?

Yes. Care is delivered under the same privacy protections as the rest of your medical care.

Does this cost extra?

Collaborative care is typically covered under Medicare and New York Medicaid as part of primary care. Check your specific plan with your practice.