Project Summary

Stephen J. Bartels, M.D. (Independent Investigator 2001) of Dartmouth College, notes that recent Mental Health reports by the Surgeon General, Administration on Aging and a recent consensus statement on the upcoming crisis in geriatric mental health each predict an unprecedented growth in the population of older persons with severe mental illness (SMI) over the coming decades, and identify the service needs and costs of care for this high risk group as a major public health problem. Medical comorbity and functional impairment are common in older persons with SMI, resulting in a greater use of institution-based care and other high cost health services. This project will be the first of it's kind to describe costs of mental health and general health care in older persons with SMI using a unique date set linking Medicaid, Medicare, state mental health expenditures, pharmacy and nursing home records. Results will be used to identify future research priorities for treatment intervention research, and to identify health policy and health priorities for the rapidly growing number of aging American with SMI.

Program Area: MULTIPLE FOCUS AREAS\Schizophrenia/Mood Disorders

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