title: A review of economic evaluations of community mental health care.
abstract: The authors review the methodology and findings of economic evaluations of 42 community mental health care programs reported in the English-language literature between 1979 and 2003. There were three substantial methodological problems in the literature: costs were often not completely specified, the quality of econometric analysis was often low, and most evaluations failed to integrate cost and health outcome information. Well-conducted research shows that care in the community dominates hospital in-patient care, achieving better outcomes at lower or equal cost. It is less clear what types of community programs are most cost-effective. Future research should focus on identifying which types of community care are most cost effective and at what level of intensity they are most effective.
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, USA.
authors.forename: Evan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cumming
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nelson
mesh_terms: D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000191:economics*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods