Independent Housing is Cost-Effective for People Who Have Chronic Mental Illnesses

Analysis of the cost-effectiveness of supportive housing for people with chronic mental illnesses

Investigators at the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies examined the relative cost-effectiveness of different housing configurations for people with chronic mental illness. They also looked at the relationship between housing and neighborhood features and client outcomes (such as costs of care and length of time at one residence).

Key Findings

In "The Cost-Effectiveness of Independent Housing for the Chronically Mentally Ill: Do Housing and Neighborhood Features Matter?," a paper published in Health Services Research, investigators reported the following findings:

  • "The mental health care cost savings associated with" favorable housing features and neighborhoods "far outweigh the costs of developing and operating properties that have them."
  • "Study participants living in newer and well-maintained buildings incurred lower mental health care costs and experienced greater residential stability."
  • "Buildings with a richer set of amenity features, neighborhoods with no outward signs of physical deterioration and neighborhoods with newer housing stock were associated with reduced mental health care costs."

Funding

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) provided $322,941 in grant support for the studies from 1995 to 2002.

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