Economic analysis of mental health programs, Assertive Community Treatment, economic issues related to supported employment for people with severe mental illness

The resources in place to help people with mental illness – hospital psychiatry departments, CSSSs, and various other community organizations – plus the links between them, add up to an incredibly complex and costly system. Identifying the most cost-effective changes to pursue requires careful data collection and analysis. Since his arrival at  the Douglas Institute Research Centre in 1996, Eric Latimer, PhD, a health economist, has been looking for ways to improve the services our society provides to people with some of the most severe forms of mental illness, while staying within local and provincial budget constraints.

Eric Latimer's research at the Douglas Institute has centered around two specific kinds of programs to help people with severe mental illness:  Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) and Supported Employment. He has also conducted economic analyses of a number of programs pertaining to mental illness, including a rapid response team to treat suicidal adolescents who present at the Emergency Department, and a program to screen and treat elderly medical in-patients for depression.

As associate member of the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health at McGill University, he teaches a economic evaluation of health programs. In 2008-2009, he serves as treasurer on the board of the Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research, and as a member of the (Canadian) Institute of Health Services and Policy Research Advisory Board.

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