Background: Individual Health Budget (IHB) is used for social and health integration and to facilitate processes of resource reorientation in healthcare. Despite its increased use in mental health settings, few studies investigated its effectiveness in severe mental disorders.
Methods: 383 IHB beneficiaries were recruited among Mental Health Departments users of the Italian region Friuli Venezia Giulia. Data involved sociodemographic and clinical variables, IHB type and scores of Health of the Nation Outcome Scale (HoNOS) at admission to IHB programme (T0), after 12 months (T1), and after 24 months (T2).
Results: The length and the mean number of hospitalisations and healthcare interventions decreased at T1. A significant scores' reduction from T0 to T1 evaluation was found in HoNOS total score (T-test (P) < 0.05) and in most of its items. An improvement throughout the whole evaluation period (T0 vs. T2) was found in 36% of the IHB beneficiaries, while more than 60% of them remained in the same HoNOS severity category.
Conclusions: Our results support the use of IHB in patients with severe mental problems, since it may contribute to an improvement in social and clinical functioning, consequently lowering the burden on MHDs.
Keywords: Individual health budget; health and social care; mental disorders; personalized care.