Evaluation of mental health services

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.

scholarly journals Evaluating mental health services. A world perspective

1997 ◽  
Vol 6 (S1) ◽  
pp. 239-245
Author(s):  
Norman Sartorius
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
World Wide ◽  
List Type ◽  
Type Number ◽  
Evaluative Research ◽  
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.

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

1997 ◽  
Vol 6 (S1) ◽  
pp. 59-68 ◽  
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).

Young offenders ' and their families ' experiences of mental health interventions

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 353-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Jack ◽  
Caroline Lanskey ◽  
Joel Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Young Person ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Intervention Process ◽  
Mental Health Interventions

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relevance of young people ' s experiences of mental health interventions with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) before and during their time with youth offending services. Design/methodology/approach – This qualitative interpretive study involved 14 interviews with young people who had offended, five of their carers and five CAMHS professionals from one local authority. Findings – The paper identifies understanding, recognition, respect and trust as key principles in the practitioner-young person relationship, and in the intervention process more broadly, and suggests that systematic consultation with young people and their caregivers about their experience of mental health interventions would be beneficial. It notes important similarities and differences in the views of the different parties which shed further light on reasons why a young person may or may not engage with mental health services. Research limitations/implications – The study is based on a small sample of young people from one service, but it is hoped that the findings will be a useful springboard for other services to reflect upon. Practical implications – The paper proposes the importance of recognising young people ' s agency in the intervention process and the value of systematic consultation with young people and their caregivers for securing their engagement in interventions. Originality/value – The study takes a multi-perspective approach (of young people, their carers and practitioners) to capture the synergies and tensions in the expectations of and interactions between young people, practitioners and caregivers.

scholarly journals Asian Americans and Mental Health: Cultural Barriers to Effective Treatment

Elements ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather K. Speller
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Mental Health Care ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Racial Minorities ◽  
Cultural Barriers ◽  
Real Problem ◽  
Surgeon General

Disparities in mental health care for racial minorities remains a serious and very real problem calling for immediate attention. The 2001 report of the Surgeon General affirmed that ethnic and racial minorities have less access to and availability of mental health services, and are subsequently less likely to receive needed mental health services. This paper examines a range of issues regarding Asian American mental health. It presents the practical and cultural barriers that members of this ethnic group confront when seeking mental health care and explains how cultural differences sometimes result in misdiagnosis and ineffective treatment. It also explores ways that the American mental health care system can improve to accommodate diverse ethnic groups.

scholarly journals Developing and Using Vignettes to Explore the Relationship Between Risk Management Practice and Recovery-Oriented Care in Mental Health Services

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Holley ◽  
Steven Gillard
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Health Care Research ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Care Research

There is a lack of literature evaluating the development and use of vignettes to explore contested constructs in qualitative health care research where a conventional interview schedule might impose assumptions on the data collected. We describe the development and validation of vignettes in a study exploring mental health worker and service user understandings of risk and recovery in U.K. mental health services. Focus groups with mental health workers and service users explored study questions from experiential perspectives. Themes identified in the groups were combined with existing empirical literature to develop a set of vignettes. Feedback focus groups were conducted to validate and amend the vignettes. Following use in research interviews, results suggested that the vignettes had successfully elicited data on issues of risk and recovery in mental health services. Further research using creative, comparative methods is needed to fully understand how vignettes can best be used in qualitative health care research.

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