Financial and Mental Health: Exploratory Research

Summary

This project will develop a model for providing low-income people with mental illness with supports that enable them to manage their money as well as possible so that they are better able to meet their basic needs, to experience less anxiety about finances, and to live fulfilling lives in the community with the greatest possible degree of independence. The project will work within a citizenship-oriented approach to mental health care, which promotes recovery through linking people with mental illness to the rights, responsibilities, roles, resources and relationships necessary to achieve full membership in society. The aims of the project are to: train clinicians and peer staff so that they are able to integrate discussion of financial issues and concerns into their work with clients; provide on-site services including financial counseling, peer support groups, help with opening a bank account, and a savings club, and; develop a 'financial health' model which can be replicated by other providers of mental health services. The investigators hypothesize that the intervention will result in improved financial health, reduced financial stress, increased community participation, and improved satisfaction with care.

Conditions

• Financial Difficulties

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

One-on-one financial counseling

Clients will be given access to one-on-one financial counseling, provided by trained peer specialists, initially working under the guidance of the project director. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Your Money, Your Goals: Financial Empowerment Toolkit for Social Services Programs (21) will be used as a reference during counseling sessions, with a view to developing a manual based on clients' existing experiences and coping strategies, such that the desired behavior change is manageable, realistic, and based on real-life possibilities rather than idealized circumstances which may be far from the reality of people's lives. Counseling will in all cases be responsive to clients' particular needs and concerns, rather than following a predetermined sequence.

BEHAVIORAL

Peer support group

Support groups, facilitated by peer specialists and guided initially by the project director, will be offered for clients interested in specific financial issues such as budgeting, managing benefits, wise spending, planning and saving. The peer support groups will focus on enabling clients to share their own experiences with finances.

BEHAVIORAL

Supported access to mainstream banking services

Interested clients will be helped to open bank accounts at banks of their choice, and to manage associated tools such as Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) cards and online bill pay. Clients will also be advised regarding use of non-bank financial products such as prepaid cards and check cashers. Representatives from both bank and non-bank providers will be invited to come in and talk with clients about the services they offer, and clients will also be invited to visit the facilities to be guided around the available services.

BEHAVIORAL

A matched savings account

Clients will have the option of joining a savings club, which will combine group meetings, facilitated by a peer specialist under the initial guidance of the project director, and regular savings deposits towards specified goals. Clients will be offered a limited savings match as an incentive to achieve their savings goal (for example, the savings club will offer a 50% match on any money saved within a specified time period towards a specific goal, up to a maximum of a $100 match).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

  collaborator NIH

• Yale University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Michael Rowe · Yale University

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2015-08-01

Primary Completion

2017-07-31

Completion

2017-12-31