Implementing a Canadian shared-care ADHD program in Beijing: Barriers and facilitators to consider prior to start-up

BACKGROUND: The shared care pathway for ADHD is a program developed in Canada with two main strategies: (a) implement a shared care pathway between general practitioners (GPs) and specialists, and (b) step up or down care so that the patient is treated at the most appropriate level of care, depending on the complexity or outcome of their illness. The current study aims to identify the challenges and facilitators of implementing this program in a Chinese mental health service setting. METHODS: Two focus groups were conducted using semi-structured interviews with a total of 7 health care providers in Beijing. An adapted grounded theory methodology using open-ended, axial and selective coding was used for data analysis. RESULTS: We identified three main levels related to barriers and facilitators: (1) a sociocultural level of patients' and health care providers' perspectives; (2) a structural level related to internal and external organizational environments; (3) and the level of the intervention itself with its characteristics. The project is generally aligned with the mandates and goals of the health system, but two of the main obstacles are the varying qualifications of physicians in hospitals of different levels, implying different needs and flexible and adapted training programs, and the lack of appropriate patient referral systems between the different hospital levels. CONCLUSION: Our study highlights the importance of consultation to obtain a "lay of the land" for deciding on the implementation steps of an a priori well accepted model of care. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12888-022-03955-7.