Whither economic evaluation in the case of COVID 19: What can the field of mental health economics contribute within the Australian context?
COVID 19 has resulted in broad impacts on the economy and aspects of daily life including our collective mental health and well being. The Australian health care system already faces limitations in its ability to treat people with mental health diagnoses. Australia has responded to the COVID 19 outbreak by, among other initiatives, providing reimbursement for telehealth services. However, it is unclear if these measures will be enough to manage the psychological distress, depression, anxiety and post traumatic distress shown to accompany infectious disease outbreaks and economic shocks. Decision making has focused on the physical health ramifications of COVID 19, the avoidance of over burdening the health care system and saving lives. We propose an alternative framework for decision making that combines life years saved with impacts on quality of life. A framework that simultaneously includes mental health and broader economic impacts into a single decision making process would facilitate transparent and accountable decision making that can improve the overall welfare of Australian society as we continue to address the considerable challenges that the COVID 19 pandemic is creating.
The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry