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The Cost of Comprehensive Care of People with Schizophrenia Living in the Community

A Cost Evaluation from a German Catchment Area

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Hans Joachim Salize*
Affiliation:
Mental Health Services Research Unit
Wulf Rössler
Affiliation:
Mental Health Services Research Unit
*
Dipl. Soz. Hans Joachim Salize, Mental Health Services Research Unit, Central Institute of Mental Health Mannheim, J5, D-68159 Mannheim, Germany. Fax: + +49 621 234 29

Abstract

Background

In community mental health care, knowledge about costs of care is very limited. Only few studies have related costs to outcome measures.

Method

This German study assesses the cost of psychiatric care of 66 schizophrenic patients during one year of living in the community. Predictors of high cost were identified.

Results

The average cost of comprehensive community care of one patient of the cohort was US$ 353 per week. This was only 43% of the cost of constant long-term care in a psychiatric hospital. Significant predictors of total cost of community care were the number of rehabilitative problems at the beginning and at the end of the study period, the type of accommodation before index hospitalisation and the gender of patients.

Conclusions

Results must be understood in terms of the characteristics of the special patient group and the catchment area we studied and are of high relevance in planning future care.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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