The delivery of mental health services in the 21st century: bringing the community back in

Developing a community-based participatory research model to engage transition age youth using mental health service in research

We present a model for the development and conduct of a community-based participatory research project with transition age youth (TAY) mental health service users. Community-based participatory research frameworks can facilitate equitable partnerships and meaningful inclusion but have not been fully drawn upon in mental health research. The model included TAY as trained research associates involved in every aspect of the research process. We describe the development of the project, creation of the research team, training, the design and conduct of the study, and challenges faced. The methods developed successfully provided support for the meaningful participation of TAY in the project.

Applying a theory of change approach to interagency planning in child mental health

This paper describes the use of a theory of change approach to community-based cross-agency service planning for children with serious emotional disturbance and their families. Public agency planners in Contra Costa County, California used the theory of change approach to organize service planning for a population of youth who had been arrested and involved with juvenile probation. The theory of change process described in this paper links community outcomes with planned activities with the assumptions or principles that underlie the community planning efforts. When complete, a theory of change logic model can serve as a guide for implementation, ensuring that community plans for service delivery remain true to their intent. The theory of change development process includes twelve stages and is based on a step-by-step approach. Theory of change logic models establish a context for articulating a community's shared beliefs and prompt local stakeholders to establish logical connections between the population to be served, expected results, and strategies intended to achieve those results.

Effects of patients with bipolar, schizophrenic, and major depressive disorders on the mental and other healthcare expenses of family members

Family members who live with patients with serious mental disorders incur increased healthcare expenses. A retrospective study measured these increased expenses using administrative data from a large Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan in the USA. Mental and other healthcare expenses of family members of patients with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or major depression were compared to those of control family members. Ordinary least squares and logistic regression were used to estimate differences. In comparison with control (families of two or more members without these psychiatric disorders), mental and other healthcare expenses per family member per month were increased for subject family members as follows: bipolar disorder, $8.85 (213%; P<0.0001) and $10.65 (7.4%; P<0.0001); schizophrenia, $4.03 (81%; P<0.0001) and $5.96 (4.2%; P<0.005); and major depression $8.24 (219%; P<0.0001) and $9.46 (6.5%; P<0.0001). Among other factors, older family members had a greater likelihood of using mental healthcare and higher levels of other healthcare; males were less likely than females to use mental healthcare but had higher levels of other healthcare, and managed forms of coverage were associated with higher levels of both mental and other healthcare. We conclude that living with a person with serious mental illness significantly increases healthcare expenses of family members, especially mental healthcare. Family members of patients with bipolar disorder and major depression experienced larger increases in expenses than family members of patents with schizophrenia, despite the fact that patients with schizophrenia were more seriously ill as reflected in the much higher mental healthcare expenses of these patients.

Geographical variation in acute psychiatric admissions within New York City 1990-2000: growing inequalities in service use?

The paper analyses geographical variations in use of acute psychiatric inpatient services within New York City and how these have changed from 1990 to 2000. We review literature suggesting reasons for the variations observed. Data from the New York State Department of Health Statewide Planning Research and Cooperative System were combined with population census data to produce age standardized ratio indicators of admissions and of bed days, as measures of use of general hospitals for psychiatric conditions, by males aged 15-64, in Zip Code Areas of New York City, in 1990 and 2000. Geographical variations in hospital use were related to proximity to general hospitals with psychiatric beds and to socio-economic status of local populations (as recorded in the 1990 and 2000 population censuses). Areas close to psychiatric hospitals areas show high admission levels. Controlling for this, Zip Code Areas with higher concentrations of poverty, of African American residents or of persons living alone were associated with relatively high admission ratios. These relationships vary somewhat between diagnostic groups. Area inequalities in standardized admission ratios persisted and widened between 1990 and 2000, and the highest hospital admission ratios were increasingly concentrated where social and economic disadvantage was greatest. Various possible reasons for this trend are explored. We conclude that increasing intensity of poverty in disadvantaged areas is not likely to provide an explanation and that the trends are more likely to result from changes in hospital management and funding affecting access to hospital services.

The mental health/primary care interface in the United States: history, structure, and context

This paper, the first in a series commissioned by NIMH for the "Challenges for the 21st Century: Mental Health Services Research Conference," seeks to provide a broad perspective on the primary care/mental health interface in the United States. The manuscript examines both the care of mental disorders in medical settings, and also the medical care of the seriously medically ill. The first section provides a historical overview of the cycling patterns of growth and retrenchment of primary care medicine during the 20th century, and the how those changes have paralleled the care of mental disorders and the mentally ill. The second section examines the four core features of primary care -first contact, longitudinality, comprehensiveness and coordination -and their implications for these issues. An historical and system-level perspective can provide a crucial step towards improving care on the mental health/primary care interface.