Branching Out is an innovative development for clients who use mental health services within Greater Glasgow and Clyde. This 2016 economic study report is a continuation of previous studies with the aim to obtain additional client data on the Branching Out programme.

A previous economic analysis of the costs and benefits of the Branching Out programme estimated the Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) benefits delivered by the programme in 2007/08 and 2011/12. The 2007/08 dataset was collected by Wilson (2009) whereas the 2011/12 dataset was derived from questionnaires implemented as part of a new study.

One problem with the previous analysis was the limited number of observations which meant that many of the health differences pre- and post-programme were not statistically significant. The extension to the study was aimed at increasing the precision of the estimates of benefits and cost effectiveness.