Abstract
BackgroundThe United States experienced severe mental health budget cuts in many states across the nation during the years of the largest recession since the Great Depression. Illinois had one of the hardest hit mental health budgets in the country. The massive mental health funding cuts in Illinois, combined with the state’s budget impasse, left fewer facilities available to provide treatment and support to those in need. Many of Illinois’s most vulnerable populations either had reduced access, or no access to care. Serious spillover effects were felt by emergency rooms, community hospitals, and the criminal justice system. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to examine disparities in Health Related Quality of Life for those with depression after the funding cuts in Illinois.MethodsData from the 2017 Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System was analyzed by using multivariate logistic regression models of the Health Related Quality of Life measures for Illinoisans diagnosed with depressive disorders.ResultsAccording to the regression models in this study, disparities exist in HRQOL for Illinoisans with depressive disorders. In all of the HRQOL models, income was associated with a reduction in HRQOL. Additionally, disparities exist in HRQOL for certain age groups and those who are unemployed. Interestingly, the models did not show any racial disparities as anticipated.ConclusionWithout the basic policy-level deficiencies addressed, disparities in Health Related Quality of Life for Illinois’s most vulnerable populations will continue to exist as will costly economic spillover effects.
Highlights
The United States experienced severe mental health budget cuts in many states across the nation during the years of the largest recession since the Great Depression
Serious spillover effects were felt by emergency rooms, community hospitals, and the criminal justice system because these entities served as providers of last resort [3, 7]
A secondary data analysis of the 2017 Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) was conducted to examine differences in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among those with depressive disorders living in Illinois
Summary
The massive mental health funding cuts in Illinois, combined with the state’s budget impasse, left fewer facilities available to provide treatment and support to those in need. Serious spillover effects were felt by emergency rooms, community hospitals, and the criminal justice system. During years 2009–2013, Illinois cut 31.7% to mental health services resulting in Mazurek et al BMC Public Health (2020) 20:936 fewer facilities available to provide treatment and support to those in need, many of Illinois’s most vulnerable populations either had reduced access or no access to care. Serious spillover effects were felt by emergency rooms, community hospitals, and the criminal justice system because these entities served as providers of last resort [3, 7]. Dart described Cook County Jail as “the state’s largest mental health provider” and said the county jail was overwhelmed with people whose offenses were more attributable to mental health issues than criminal impulses [8, 9]
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