Essay on Economics, Services, and Psychosocial Interventions in Public Health

Today, home visiting programs have become remarkably popular. They have also started to be employed extensively in nations such as the United States and Australia CITATION Cur06 \l 1033 (Curtis & Netten, 2006). This development illustrates the heightened recognition of the importance of the early years of growth and development among infants. Such importance is not only in averting a range of adverse health outcomes but also in promoting physical as well as mental health during infancy. Nevertheless, despite the vast advantages of intensive home visiting interventions for infants, there is a large concern on the economic impact of such visits to families. This economic evaluation portrays that despite the high costs of intensive home visiting interventions for infants at risk of being maltreated, in the long run, such interventions are cheaper compared to standard care.

Cost Comparison for Intensive Home Visiting Intervention Versus Standard Care for Infants

Some studies have portrayed that the costs of home visiting services are high, especially in the middle and lower class persons in the United States CITATION Emm09 \l 1033 (McIntosh, Barlow, Davis, & Stewart-Brown, 2009). This is because the parents with infants are mandated to spend a significant amount of funds to pay the involved social and health care workers. This is in contrast to the standard care for infants where only a few payments per annum are made to health care institutions responsible for treating the infants through inpatient care. Additionally, most home visit services are not covered by medical insurance policies, and as a result, families with infants attain an increased level of expenditure.

Additionally, unlike the standard care for infants where the only costs are paid through inpatient services, intensive home visit services attract a range of costs. Most of such costs primarily arise when the infants concerned are faced with the problem of maltreatment at their homesteads. Several examples of such costs include those related to court cases, child protection resources, social care involvement, adoption process expenses, legal costs and child protection resources among others (McIntosh & Barlow, 2006). Cumulatively, these costs can be substantial and in turn, impact the economic position of the families with infants and the government. Nevertheless, despite the high costs associated with the intensive home visiting interventions in comparison to the standard care services for infants, such costs can be considered low in the long run.

Reasons Why the Long Run Costs of Intensive Home Visiting Intervention Are Low Compared to the Costs of Standard Care for Infants

While the costs of home visiting intervention services can easily be identified and computed to indicate a large expense, the resulting indirect cost benefits of such services, in the long run, are higher. This is because the intensive home visiting interventions increases maternal sensitivity, reduces infant accidents, offers better breastfeeding rates and improves infant cooperativeness CITATION Emm09 \l 1033 (McIntosh, Barlow, Davis, & Stewart-Brown, 2009). It also offers the government a better chance to identify infants that require removal from their homesteads and be placed under child protection programs. This is important because the government does not spend substantial funds in providing treatment to such maltreated infants. Additionally, such are long run cost benefits to families and the government that cannot be obtained through the standard care for infants. As such, from a rational economic perspective, the costs of intensive home visiting interventions are low in comparison to the costs of standard care, in the long run.

Conclusion

In conclusion, despite the high costs of intensive home visiting interventions for infants at risk of being maltreated, in the long run, such interventions are cheaper when compared to standard care services. In the United States, intensive home visiting interventions have become remarkably popular. Nevertheless, in the short run, such interventions are associated with high expenditure among families in the middle and lower class economic positions. The examples of costs associated with the intensive home visiting interventions include cost of court cases, child protection resources, social care involvement, adoption process expenses, legal costs and child protection resources among others. Nevertheless, in the long run, such costs can be offset by the greater cost benefits associated with home visit interventions. This is because the intensive home visits heighten maternal sensitivity, reduces infant accidents, offers better breastfeeding rates, and improves infant cooperativeness. Moreover, the intensive home visit services enable the government to attain a better chance of identifying infants that require removal from their homesteads. Consequently, this reduces the cost of providing treatment to numerous maltreated infants.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Curtis, L., & Netten, A. (2006). Unit Costs of Health & Social Care.PSSRU, University of Kent at Canterbury. 1-217.

McIntosh E., & Barlow J. (2006). The costs of an Intensive Home Visiting Intervention for Vulnerable Families. In: Netten A, Curtis L, editors. Units Costs of Health and Social Care 2006. PSSRU, University of Kent at Canterbury.

McIntosh, E., Barlow, J., Davis, H., & Stewart-Brown, S. (2009). Economic evaluation of an intensive home visiting program for vulnerable families: a cost-effectiveness analysis of a public health intervention. Journal of Public Health, 31(3), 423433. doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdp047