Site maintenance Wednesday, November 13th, 2024. Please note that access to some content and account information will be unavailable on this date.
Skip to main content
Full access
Reviews and Overviews
Published Online: 30 April 2019

A Systematic Review of Health Outcomes Associated With Provision of Representative Payee Services

Abstract

Objective:

The Social Security Administration’s Representative Payment Program appoints payees as financial managers for individuals determined incapable of managing their funds. The aim is to afford stability and increase clients’ ability to meet health and behavioral priorities. This systematic review examined literature on the effect of representative payee services on identified outcomes.

Methods:

A search of academic databases and gray literature was conducted in November 2015 and repeated in December 2017. Included studies had a comparison group; excluded studies examined services other than representative payee. Primary outcomes included substance use, symptoms of mental illness, housing stability, quality of life, and other health-specific outcomes. Secondary outcomes included the client-payee relationship and client satisfaction with services.

Results:

Eighteen articles met inclusion criteria. Studies assessing primary outcomes found several positive and few negative effects of representative payee services. Studies examining secondary outcomes indicated that receipt of such services may affect the client-provider relationship, increase conflict and violence, and increase clients’ perceptions of financial leverage (i.e., a payee’s use of control over funds to encourage, incentivize, or otherwise coerce certain behaviors). Most studies were of poor or moderate quality. Studies spanned nearly two decades, and results may have been confounded by the evolution of service delivery modalities.

Conclusions:

Representative payee services are largely beneficial or neutral in terms of health and behavior outcomes. Negative findings mainly involved the client-payee relationship. Given that more than five million individuals have a representative payee, assessing the impact of these services with more rigorous research designs is worthwhile.

Formats available

You can view the full content in the following formats:

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Psychiatric Services
Go to Psychiatric Services

Cover: XXXX

Psychiatric Services
Pages: 714 - 727
PubMed: 31035896

History

Received: 9 July 2018
Revision received: 9 December 2018
Revision received: 12 February 2019
Accepted: 7 March 2019
Published online: 30 April 2019
Published in print: August 01, 2019

Keywords

  1. Community support programs
  2. Representative payee
  3. housing stability
  4. substance use

Authors

Details

Suzanne M. Kinsky, Ph.D., M.P.H. [email protected]
UPMC Center for High-Value Health Care, Pittsburgh (Kinsky); Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh (Creasy, Hawk).
Stephanie L. Creasy, M.P.H.
UPMC Center for High-Value Health Care, Pittsburgh (Kinsky); Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh (Creasy, Hawk).
Mary Hawk, Dr.P.H., L.S.W.
UPMC Center for High-Value Health Care, Pittsburgh (Kinsky); Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh (Creasy, Hawk).

Notes

Send correspondence to Dr. Kinsky ([email protected]).

Competing Interests

The authors report no financial relationships with commercial interests.

Funding Information

National Institute of Mental Healthhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000025: NIMH R01 MH112416
Ms. Creasy and Dr. Hawk are supported by grant R01 MH112416 from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.

Format
Citation style
Style
Copy to clipboard

View Options

View options

PDF/EPUB

View PDF/EPUB

Full Text

View Full Text

Get Access

Login options

Already a subscriber? Access your subscription through your login credentials or your institution for full access to this article.

Personal login Institutional Login Open Athens login
Purchase Options

Purchase this article to access the full text.

PPV Articles - Psychiatric Services

PPV Articles - Psychiatric Services

Not a subscriber?

Subscribe Now / Learn More

PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.

Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Share article link

Share