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Abstract

Objective:

Despite substantial interest in identifying and addressing patients’ social needs in health care settings, little is known about the characteristics of mental health organizations associated with providing social care services (SCSs; i.e., services that may help to address patients’ social needs). This study aimed to characterize the prevalence of 10 SCSs among mental health organizations in the United States.

Methods:

Cross-sectional data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s 2018–2020 National Mental Health Services Survey (2018, N=11,580; 2019, N=12,355; 2020, N=12,109 organizations) were used to characterize SCS provision by mental health organizations. Poisson and logistic regression analyses were used to identify characteristics of mental health organizations that were associated with SCS provision.

Results:

The proportion of organizations offering SCSs increased between 2018 and 2020. The number and types of SCSs varied by organization type, ownership, primary treatment focus, and whether integrated treatment for co-occurring mental and substance use disorders was offered. For example, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers offered an average of 5.31 SCSs during the study period, compared with 2.27 offered by partial hospitalization or day treatment organizations. Public agencies offered an average of 3.95 SCSs, compared with 2.26 offered by private for-profits.

Conclusions:

This study examined the prevalence of SCSs provided by mental health organizations in order to promote research addressing the social needs of patients with mental illness. Extensive variation across organization types suggests that the uneven provision of social care may contribute to inequities in service access, indicating the need for policies and incentives to encourage SCS implementation.

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Information

Published In

Go to Psychiatric Services
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Psychiatric Services

History

Received: 3 August 2023
Revision received: 9 October 2024
Accepted: 19 November 2024
Published online: 6 March 2025

Keywords

  1. social determinants of health
  2. social care services
  3. poverty
  4. research/service delivery
  5. unemployment
  6. homelessness

Authors

Details

Bradley Edward Iott, Ph.D., M.P.H. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9784-0521 biott@umich.edu
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Iott); Department of Health Systems, Management, and Policy, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora (Doan).
Tran Thu Doan, Ph.D., M.P.H. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8862-5707
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Iott); Department of Health Systems, Management, and Policy, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora (Doan).

Notes

Send correspondence to Dr. Iott (biott@umich.edu).

Competing Interests

The authors report no financial relationships with commercial interests.

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