Cost‐Effectiveness of Family‐Based Substance Abuse Treatment

Abstract

In order to compete in a financially sensitive health care system, family systems-based treatments must demonstrate effective clinical results as well as cost-effectiveness. Cost-effectiveness research can demonstrate to health care insurers and policy makers which treatments are viable options for implementation. The present literature review identified eight cost-effectiveness family-based substance abuse treatment studies. The results suggest that certain family-based treatments are cost-effective and warrant consideration for inclusion in health care delivery systems.

A Summary Report of the Cost-Effectiveness of the Profession and Practice of Marriage and Family Therapy

“…The most relevant finding from this review was that despite encouragement from the research community to conduct cost-effectiveness analyses, to date few studies have done so in relation to substance abuse treatment. However, Morgan and Crane (2010) also showed that among studies with comparative data, three of the five studies showed that family-based treatment was more cost-effective than individual therapy.…”

“…Given the increasing amount of research showing that family therapy is an effective form of treatment (and sometimes the preferred intervention), Crane et al (2010) deemed it prudent to investigate how much training each of the major mental health provider types receive in this modality. Content analysis was used to determine how much family therapy training is required in the standards for the six core mental health provider types (Psychiatry, Psychiatric Nursing, Clinical Psychology, Professional Counseling, Social Work, and Marriage and Family Therapy).…”

“…When compared against the entire Medicare budget, services provided by MFTs would account for less than .0015 % of total spending. Morgan and Crane (2010) identified and reviewed eight cost-effectiveness family-based substance abuse treatment studies. The purpose of this review was to move past the limitations of considering clinical outcomes alone, instead focusing on the cost-effectiveness of family-based interventions and providing summary information across studies.…”

A Cost–Benefit Analysis of a Family Systems Intervention for Managing Pediatric Chronic Illness

“…Likewise, a recent wave of research looking specifically at the cost–benefit of marriage and family therapy (MFT) versus other types of mental health treatment or individual approaches (Crane & Payne, ; Morgan & Crane, ) has shown a benefit to the systemic lens and use of family‐level intervention in MFT. Specifically, in comparison with other approaches, the effect of MFT seems to sustain long after the intervention, as measured by reductions in future needs for service, recidivism, and rehospitalization rates.…”

The effect of family therapy on the changes in the severity of on-line game play and brain activity in adolescents with on-line game addiction

“…Although there is some controversy in terms of the feasibility of providing treatment, family therapy has been suggested for patients with substance dependence (Crane, 2007; Morgan and Crane, 2010). Compared to a psychoeducational drug treatment intervention, integrated family and cognitive behavior therapy has been reported to reduce rates of marijuana use and improve problem solving and learning strategy skills in adolescents with substance dependence (Latimer et al, 2003).…”