Reinventing Mental Health Care: Public–Private Systems

Abstract

Social and economic trends toward local governance form the context for health and mental health policy and the reorganization of care systems for cost-containment in the United States. Local management of public–private collaborations is promoted by state agencies as a means of rationalizing mental health care and community support services. This chapter analyses the local process of developing public–private partnerships for mental health care, based on an ethnographic case study of county Mental Health/Mental Retardation and behavioral health committees and coalitions in Texas, from 1995 to 2001. Following this period, local service agencies continued collaboration to increase community awareness and resources for care. Findings were that while the rapid transition to local control under conditions of reduced resources impeded implementation of a public–private mental health care system, commitment to a service safety net for persons with mental disabilities was sustained.

Citation

Gena Lurie, S. (2007), "Reinventing Mental Health Care: Public–Private Systems", Wood, D.C. (Ed.) The Economics of Health and Wellness: Anthropological Perspectives (Research in Economic Anthropology, Vol. 26), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 55-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0190-1281(07)26003-2