Financial and Mental Health: Exploratory Research and Model Develoopment

Yale University, New Haven CT

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

? DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): People with mental illness very often live in poverty as they can find it difficult to earn money from employment and often have to rely on social security benefits, which provide only a very low level of income. Living on a very low income means that they struggle to meet their basic needs, to pursue a fulfilling social life, and to maintain good physical health. Anxiety about money can exacerbate existing mental health problems. This project seeks to develop and test an intervention based in a community mental health center to help clients who are living on very low incomes to manage their money as well as possible, so that they are better able to cover their monthly expenses, feel less stressed about their finances, and can think about planning for a more stable financial future. Currently people with mental illness who have money problems receive very little support. Like many people living on low-incomes, many people with mental illness do not have access to the services essential for managing money, such as bank accounts, ATM cards, direct debit, ways to save, and short and long term loans. People who do not have access to these services can find it very difficult to manage money well, and may be taken advantage of by costly non-bank providers such as check cashers, pawnshops or payday lenders. Some people with mental illness who receive social security benefits but are deemed by a doctor to be incapable of managing their money, are assigned a `representative payee'. The payee receives their income, pays their major bills, and disburses the remainder to their clients. While this is helpful for som, the service is not available to everyone, and most people with mental illness prefer to retain control of their own income, if possible. This project will develop supports for people with mental illness that enable them to retain control of their own incomes, working within a citizenship-oriented approach to mental health care, which promotes recovery through linking people with mental illness to the rights, responsibilities, roles, resources and relationships necessary to achieve full membership in society. The specific aims of the project are to: train clinicians and peer staff so that they are able to integrate discussion of financial issues and concerns into thei work with clients; provide on-site services including financial counseling, peer support groups, help with opening a bank account, and a savings club, and; develop a `financial health' model which can be replicated by other providers of mental health services. We hypothesize that the supports we provide will result in clients becoming more financially healthy, and experiencing less stress related to their money problems.