COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF SUBSTANCE DISORDER INTERVENTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH SEVERE MENTAL-ILLNESS

This study examines the cost effectiveness of three intervention strat egies for people with severe mental illness who are dually diagnosed c lients in terms of service use and costs. The interventions represent three primary approaches to treating these disorders: 12-step recovery , case management, and behavioral skills training. Interim findings fr om the study indicate that all three approaches are reducing acute and subacute service use and increasing involvement with outpatient and c ase management treatments. However, both the case management and behav ioral skills approaches reduce costs more than the 12-step recovery ap proach, although not to a statistically significant degree in the data collected thus far. Overall, the societal costs for these clients are reduced by 43% without increasing the burden on client families or on the criminal justice system.