[Clinical Psychologist in Primary Care: The work carried out in Asturias]

Abstract

Aim: To describe the characteristics of the population attended in the clinical psychology programme in Primary Care, as well as to perform a preliminary analysis of the results obtained.

Method: Prospective, descriptive study of the results obtained after brief psychological intervention. The following evaluation tools were used: PHQ-9, GAD-7, WHOQOL-BREF, and an ad hoc designed satisfaction questionnaire.

Results: A total of 1084 patients were referred to the program, and were mostly women. The most frequent diagnoses were anxiety, adaptive disorders, Zcodes (factors that influence the state of health and contact with health services) and depressive disorders. The mean waiting list time was 7.25days, and the mean number of consultations was3. The analyses performed after the treatment showed an improvement in all the variables evaluated, as well as high satisfaction and usefulness of the treatment.

Conclusions: The integration of the clinical psychologist in Primary Care leads to an improvement in the quality of care of patients with emotional disorders, facilitating an interdisciplinary bio-psycho-social approach, and offering internationally recommended evidence-based treatments and interventions.

Keywords: Atención primaria; Clinical psychology; Primary care; Psicología clínica.