title: Understanding cost-effectiveness research applied to social work.
abstract: This article provides an overview of how cost-effectiveness research (that is more often done in public health settings) can be applied to social work activities. The article describes the degree to which these techniques should influence decision making, the roots of the science for this type of analysis, the meanings of terms that are used, some basic methods, and the next steps for applying this type of work to social work activities.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management, Health Services Research and Development Center, 624 North Broadway, Room 606, Baltimore, MD 21205-1901, USA. kfrick@jhsph.edu
authors.forename: Kevin D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Frick
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Kunz
mesh_terms: D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D011634:Public Health; D012107:Research Design; D012947:Social Work / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States