Whither economic evaluation in the case of COVID-19: What can the field of mental health economics contribute within the Australian context?

Whither economic evaluation in the case of COVID-19: What can the field of mental health economics contribute within the Australian context? Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2020 Oct 02;:4867420963724 Authors: Mihalopoulos C, Chatterton ML, Engel L, Le LK, Lee YY Abstract COVID-19 has resulted in broad impacts on the economy and aspects of daily life including our collective mental health and well-being. The Australian health care system already faces limitations in its ability to treat people with mental health diagnoses. Australia has responded to the COVID-19 outbreak by, among other initiatives, providing reimbursement for telehealth services. However, it is unclear if these measures will be enough to manage the psychological distress, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic distress shown to accompany infectious disease outbreaks and economic shocks. Decision making has focused on the physical health ramifications of COVID-19, the avoidance of over-burdening the health care system and saving lives. We propose an alternative framework for decision making that combines life years saved with impacts on quality of life. A framework that simultaneously includes mental health and broader economic impacts into a single decision-making process would facilitate transparent and accountable decision making that can improve the overall welfare of Australian society as we continue to address the considerable challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic is cre...
Source: The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Aust N Z J Psychiatry Source Type: research