Overview

Given the high cost of serious mental illness, both in terms of cost to the heath care system and to the person and the society in which they live, it is important that considerable attention be given to the policies and health services that manage these conditions. We present a series of ‘real-world’ studies evaluating the clinical and economic outcomes of disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, including early-intervention models and their evaluation, which are necessary to help determine where to invest scarce resources in the Australian mental health care system.