Objective: To compare community engagement and planning (CEP) for coalition support to implement depression quality improvement (QI) to resources for services (RS) effects on service-use costs over a 12-month period.
Design: Matched health and community programs (N=93) were cluster-randomized within communities to CEP or RS.
Setting: Two Los Angeles communities.
Participants: Adults (N=1,013) with depressive symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) ≥10); 85% African American and Latino.
Interventions: CEP and RS to support programs in depression QI.
Main outcome measures: Intervention training and service-use costs over 12 months.
Results: CEP planning and training costs were almost 3 times higher than RS, largely due to greater CEP provider training participation vs RS, with no significant differences in 12-month service-use costs.
Conclusions: Compared with RS, CEP had higher planning and training costs with similar service-use costs.
Keywords: Collaborative Care; Community-Based Participatory Research; Cost Analysis; Depression; Mental Health Services; Racial Disparities.