title: A menu with prices: Annual per person costs of programs addressing community integration.
abstract: Information on costs of programs addressing community integration for persons with serious mental illness in the United States, essential for program planning and evaluation, is largely lacking. To address this knowledge gap, community integration programs identified through directories and snowball sampling were sent an online survey addressing program costs and organizational attributes. 64 Responses were received for which annual per person costs (APPC) could be computed. Programs were categorized by type of services provided. Program types differed in median APPCs, though median APPCs identified were consistent with the ranges identified in the limited literature available. Multiple regression was used to identify organizational variables underlying APPCs such as psychosocial rehabilitation program type, provision of EBPs, number of volunteers, and percentage of budget spent on direct care staff, though effects sizes were moderate at best. This study adds tentative prices to the menu of community integration programs, and the implications of these findings for choosing, designing and evaluating programs addressing community integration are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Human Services Research Institute, Cambridge, MA, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, United States.
authors.forename: H Stephen
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Leff
authors.affiliation: Human Services Research Institute, Cambridge, MA, United States. Electronic address: bcichocki@hsri.org.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cichocki
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, NH, United States.
authors.forename: Clifton
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.affiliation: Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion for Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salzer
authors.affiliation: Human Services Research Institute, Cambridge, MA, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, United States.
authors.forename: Dow
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wieman
mesh_terms: D062309:Community Integration / Q000191:economics*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012949:Social Work, Psychiatric / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States
keywords: Community inclusion; Community integration; Costs; Operations; Planning