The Economics of Mental Health

该计划旨在通过提供广泛（跨经济学核心学科）和深入（心理健康经济学领域和经济分析方法）的学术经验，培养下一代健康和心理健康经济学学者。设计政策，以确保具有成本效益，公平的精神卫生保健在美国人口与其异质性的需求和资源（如保险范围）需要创造性的，有见地的经济分析。这是在这一领域提供培训的主要理由。该计划提供经济学核心分析工具（微观经济分析和计量经济学）的培训，以及健康和心理健康经济学方法，主题和数据的专业培训和指导。培训围绕核心研讨会，专业课程，研究和方法技能的发展，专业发展练习，研究道德培训和指导论文研究。该计划的研究领域是健康和心理健康的经济学。虽然该计划涵盖了心理健康经济学中广泛的问题和疾病领域，但它将强调反映其教师专业知识的特定主题。核心科学学科是经济学，重点是微观经济学， 计量经济学和卫生经济学。然而，鉴于科学研究的跨学科性质， 精神卫生，一个强大的培训学院，代表精神病学，心理学，社会工作，精算科学和经济学已经组装。在每一学年，我们建议有六名博士前学生在培训;他们通常会在不同的学习阶段。几乎所有的学员都将处于职业生涯的早期阶段，通常有0-2年的学士学位后工作经验;大多数人都有经济学，统计学，数学或公共政策的学士学位培训。 公共卫生相关性：鉴于人们对精神卫生保健系统如何为可能在健康结果和医疗保健获取方面存在差异并且可能在疾病和经济资源方面脆弱的人群提供有益但往往昂贵的干预措施的严重担忧，公共和私人决策者在经济推理和证据的坚实基础的支持下开展工作至关重要。我们认真对待培训新的学者提供这种知识所需的技能的重要性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed program is designed to train the next generation of scholars in health and mental health economics by providing a broad (across the core disciplines of economics) and deep (within the field of mental health economics and the methodologies of economic analysis) academic experience. Designing policies to ensure cost-effective, equitable mental health care in the U.S. population with its heterogeneous needs and resources (e.g. insurance coverage) requires creative, insightful economic analysis. This is the main rationale for providing training in this area. The proposed program provides training in the core analytical tools of economics (microeconomic analysis and econometrics), and specialized training and mentoring in the methods, topics, and data in health and mental health economics. The training is organized around a core seminar, specialized coursework, development of research and methodological skills, professional development exercises, training in research ethics, and mentored dissertation research. The proposed program's research area is the economics of health and mental health. While the program covers a broad set of issues and disease areas in the economics of mental health, it will emphasize particular topics that reflect its faculty's expertise. The core scientific discipline is economics, with focus on microeconomics, econometrics, and health economics. Yet given the interdisciplinary nature of scientific inquiry in mental health, a strong training faculty representing psychiatry, psychology, social work, actuarial sciences, and economics has been assembled. In each academic year we propose to have six predoctoral students in training; they will generally be at different stages of their studies. Virtually all trainees will be at early career stages, typically with 0-2 years of post-baccalaureate work experience; most have baccalaureate training in economics, statistics, mathematics, or public policy. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Given the significant concerns about how the mental health care system can deliver beneficial yet often-costly interventions in populations that may experience disparities in health outcomes and health care access and that may be vulnerable with respect to disease and economic resources, it is critical that public and private decision makers undertake their work supported by a solid foundation of economic reasoning and evidence. We take seriously the importance of training new scholars with the skills required to provide this knowledge.