Evaluating mental health services. A world perspective

Evaluations of mental health services are much in demand. Their results are supposed to help in improving the quality of mental health care and in making them economically better viable.Yet, world-wide there is: 1)little agreement about the content of terms such as evaluation, mental health service, outcome of an activity although these and other terms are widely used;2)uncertainty about the best use of results of evaluative research;3)lack of consensus about who should evaluate what and by what method.

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Population needs assessment for mental health services. Prospects for the future

Epidemiologia e psichiatria sociale Monograph Supplement ◽

10.1017/s1827433100000836 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 6 (S1) ◽

pp. 59-68 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

José Miguel Caldas de Almeida

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Mental Health Services ◽

Health Services ◽

Mentally Ill ◽

Medical Model ◽

Radical Change ◽

New Paradigm ◽

Evaluative Research ◽

New Perspective

The concept of need and the development of methods for measuring population needs represent, in a way, a new paradigm in evaluative research and planning of mental health services.As with all new paradigms, this one has arisen as a way of overcoming a conceptual crisis: the crisis that has resulted from the application of the curative and medical model to the organisation and evaluation of mental health care, and from the traditional way of planning mental health services according to factors more centred on services and staff problems than on the actual problems of the populations.As is the case with all new paradigms, the concept of needs also represents a radical change at the epistemological level. In fact, this concept integrates a new perspective on: 1. The nature and range of the problems experienced by the mentally ill (seen not only in terms of symptoms and behavioural problems but also in terms of social disability problems); 2. The interventions required to reduce or contain those problems(integrating the dimension of treatment in a more comprehensive dimension of care); 3. The principles of mental health services organisation (seen from a more community-centred perspective).

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Quality development in mental health care in Europe. Recent contributions by WHO

Epidemiologia e psichiatria sociale Monograph Supplement ◽

10.1017/s1827433100000964 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 6 (S1) ◽

pp. 211-215

Author(s):

José G. Sampaio Faria

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Quality Of Care ◽

Mental Health Services ◽

Health Services ◽

Mental Health Care ◽

European Region ◽

Quality Development

In 1984 all Member States of the European Region agreed on a Pan European Health Policy, popularly known as Targets for Health for All (Health for all targets, 1991).Among the 38 targets agreed, Target 31 states (table I).More recently the first meeting of national directors/officials of mental health services in the European Member States stated that “there should be greater concern about the quality of mental health care in each Member State, and mechanisms must be established to guarantee a quality service. These include: a.encouraging mental health care professionals to develop systems to monitor the quality of care;b.independent inspection of services;c.the participation of consumers and relatives;d.improving the basic and continuing training of mental health professionals as well as their working conditions;Special attention should be paid to the quality of care provided to those with severe long-term mental disorder, the elderly, children and adolescents. Barriers to care should be avoided, particularly for people with long-term mental disabilities.”The need for quality development and evaluation differ quite significantly across the European Region as a result of the existing differences in the pattern of mental health services and priority policies to be implemented.

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Evaluation of mental health services

New Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry ◽

10.1093/med/9780199696758.003.0186 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 1463-1473

Author(s):

Michele Tansella ◽

Graham Thornicroft

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Mental Health Services ◽

Health Services ◽

Complex Interventions ◽

Health Interventions ◽

People With Mental Illness ◽

Mental Health Interventions ◽

Evaluative Research ◽

Combined Interventions

Evaluation is the basis for improving care to people with mental illness. It is vital to know whether interventions are beneficial or harmful, and whether they offer value for money. Mental health interventions need to be understood both in terms of their active ingredients and how they fit within their context. Such combined interventions, often including pharmacological, psychological, and social elements, are the epitome of ‘complex interventions’ and their evaluation poses considerable challenges. In this chapter we shall discuss definitions of evaluation, and go on to discuss why evaluate, what to evaluate, and how to evaluate mental health services. In our conclusion we shall offer an indication of the most important trends in this field in the coming years. The overall approach that we take is centred upon the idea that ongoing evaluative research is of fundamental importance in discovering which interventions are effective, neutral, or harmful, and that such information is essential to deliver better mental health care.

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