Disciplinary differences between health-allied professionals’ attitudes about and barriers to integrated healthcare training and practice

Integrated behavioral healthcare (IBH) improves patient outcomes, reduces costs, and enhances provider collaboration, yet implementation varies widely across health-allied disciplines. This study aimed to assess differences in IBH training, attitudes, willingness to engage, and perceived barriers among students, faculty, and clinicians across six disciplinary groups within an academic health system: dental medicine, health professions (laboratory science, nutrition science, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech-language pathology), medicine, pharmacy, psychology, and social work. An online Qualtrics survey was administered to health-allied trainees and professionals (N = 202) within an academic health system. Measures included demographic variables; self-reported experience and training in IBH; and Likert-scale items indexing (a) willingness to engage in IBH learning, training, and practice; (b) attitudes toward IBH; (c) perceived barriers to IBH implementation; and (d) current training practices. Items were aggregated into construct scores. Analyses included ANOVA, Kruskal–Wallis tests, and chi-square tests, depending on variable type and distribution normality. Most respondents reported limited exposure to IBH: 55.9% had no prior IBH experience, and approximately 80% reported no formal training or current involvement in IBH practice. No significant disciplinary differences emerged in willingness to engage in IBH, reported experience, or formal training. Significant differences were found in attitudes toward IBH and perceived barriers. Psychology participants reported more favorable attitudes toward IBH than those in dental medicine, and fewer perceived barriers than those in health professions. No significant differences were found in training practices across disciplines. Disciplinary variation in attitudes and perceived barriers suggests that IBH readiness is uneven across professional groups. Although willingness to engage in IBH appears broadly shared, limited exposure and training represent system-wide gaps. Findings underscore the need for discipline-specific and institution-level strategies to strengthen interprofessional education, reduce perceived barriers, and improve IBH implementation across health-allied professions.