Fountain House Releases New Report: Beyond Treatment
Today, Fountain House released a new report “Beyond Treatment: How Clubhouses for People Living with Serious Mental Illness Transform Lives and Save Money” showcasing the tremendous economic and societal benefit of Clubhouses.
Click here to read “Beyond Treatment”.
This first-of-its-kind analysis looks beyond health care spending to include lost wages and productivity, disability benefits, repeated emergency room visits, and criminal justice impacts – and demonstrates how Clubhouses are uniquely positioned to drive down spending across the board and transform the lives of people living with serious mental illness. The report finds that if Clubhouses were appropriately resourced and expanded to serve even just 5% of the 15.4 million adults in the U.S. who live with serious mental illness, the net societal benefit would exceed $8.5 billion and offer a dramatic improvement in quality of life for countless individuals, their families, and their communities.
As prior national polling has shown, a majority of voters across party lines are in favor of funding community-based supports for people with serious mental illness, such as the Clubhouse Model (85% support, 64% strongly support). And across the country, including in Massachusetts, Ohio, and New York City, officials have recognized and invested in Clubhouses as a critical component of a healthy, dignified mental health care system.
Keep an eye out as we prepare for another Clubhouse Week of Action in 2024 on how we will utilize these new findings to build awareness for Clubhouses in our communities and raise our U.S. national profile as a vital solution.