Researchers at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government will use a $400,000 grant to fund a study of mental health institutions in the United States, K-School officials said earlier this week.

The three-year study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health will examine more than 2000 mental health facilities in a nation-wide effort to determine the effect private ownership has on the care in these facilities.

"There have been recent important changes in the balance between privately and publicly owned mental health institutions, with tremendous growth in the for-profit sector," said Robert A. Dorwart, research coordinator of the Kennedy School's Center for Health Policy and Management, which is conducting the study.

"Formerly most mental health patient care wasprovided by state and county hospitals," Dorwartsaid. He added that three out of four psychiatrichospitals are currently privately owned.

The increasing number of privately owned mentalhealth facilities and a dearth of information ontheir services led the center to initiate thestudy, Drowart said.

"Mental health care is an aspect of health carewhere there has been a clear federal commitment inthe past to insure that people are given access toservices. That makes it all the more important ifthat committment becomes less," said Mark J.Schlesinger, research director of the center.

The center will "look at how these differentmental health care facilities relate to oneanother," Dorwart said.

Most public hospitals with psychiatric wardsand all state and country hospitals fall under theheading of non-profit mental health facilities,while private facilities range from psychiatrichospitals to drug and alchohol rehabilitationcenters, he said.

The study will examine all private specificallypsychiatric hospitals, and about 70 percent ofpsychiatirc wards in general hospitals, Dorwartsaid.

According to Schlesinger, similar studies whichhave been done on physical health care clinicswill serve as models for this study.

Dorwart said that both the availability andquality of services may be affected byprivitization. The study will not focus on theissue of quality, but "establish a base-line ofdata about the kinds of services available, andwho is receiving these services," he said.

Though there has been an "expansion in theamount of services available in many communities,"this may only apply to "a small segment of thepopulation," not the entire community, Dorwartsaid.

"It's likely that private facilities treatpredominately the insured," Dorwart said