Description:

Instructor: Prof. Alison Cuellar, PhD (aevanscu@gmu.edu)

Class times: Varying class times (WST, Online-lectures if necessary)

Class size: Max. 15 students Kick-off meeting: 07.11.2024 10:00 - 12:00

Room: WST-B.10.02

Credit points: 6 ECTS (master)

Language: English Office hours: By appointment.

For further information regarding the course, please contact Prof. Cuellar.

The complexity and chronicity of mental health conditions, particularly serious mental
illness, pose significant policy challenges. This has become even more evident since
the COVID-19 pandemic. In this course we will examine economic considerations in the
prevention of mental illness, design of health insurance benefits, and in the provision,
organization and use of services for mental disorders in several countries. We further
discuss empirical strategies, data and causal identification.

Learning Targets:

Offer students an understanding of unique characteristics of mental health

conditions, including their prevention, their treatment, and impacts on human
capital formation, relative to other health conditions and implications for
economic analysis and policy development

- Provide an overview of modern economic research on key mental health policy

issues.

- Motivate students to study the economics of mental health and policy with a clear

understanding of causal relationships.

Outline:

Dates and topics:

7.11.2024 10:00-12:00 Overview of topics, general information, questions Overview of Mental Health and Burden of Illness

14.11.2024 10:00-12:00 Burden of Illness (continued) and Prevention of Mental Illness;

21.11.2024 10:00-12:00 Cost‐Effectiveness Analysis of Treatment Approaches; Characteristics of MH Disorders and Human Capital Formation

28.11.2024 10:00-12:00 Parental Conditions and Children’s Mental Health (and vice versa)

03.12.2024 23.59 Working Age Adults, Workplace, and Mental Health

10.12.2024 10:00-12:00 Health Insurance and Mental Health

17.12.2024 10:00-12:00 MH Treatment and Outcomes

Outline of Term Paper due

24.12.2024 Holiday

31.12.2024 Holiday

9.1.2025 10:00-12:00 MH Treatment and Labor Market Impacts

16.1.25 10:00-12:00 Treatment Spillover Effects to Other Sectors

23.1.2025 10:00-12:00 Neighborhoods, School Interventions, and Mental Health

30.1.2025 10:00-12:00 The Opioid Epidemic in the US.

Methods of Assessment:

written paper and presentation

Formalities:

Submission Guidelines:
Please use the following naming conventions for the files you submit:
Outline: _FirstnameLastname_outline
Paper: _FirstnameLastname_paper
Assignments: _FirstnameLastname_assignment_firstauthor

Grading:
The final grade is composed of the grades for the written short term paper and 1
individual presentation:
- Term Paper:
The term paper should not exceed 15 pages, excluding the title page, references,
figures, and tables.

- Individual presentation 30%

- Term Paper: 70%

Material:

• Mental_Health_Economics_and_Policy-Syllabus.pdf (117 Ki, Last change 29.10.2024)