Impacts Of Program Evaluation On Mental Health Care

Innovative Approaches to Mental Health Evaluation is a collection of papers that provides a broad range of ideas, methods, and techniques in program administration and evaluation in the field of mental health. The book is organized into 2 sections. Part I, consisting of 8 chapters, presents the necessary evaluation strategies and approaches that effectively address the important mental health issues for the 1980s such as prevention programs; the linking of health and mental health delivery systems; accountability in assuring quality of services; deinstitutionalizing the chronically mentally ill; and providing for greater local participation in mental health program management. Part II, surveys the promising evaluation methods, approaches, and relevant issues that are emerging in the new organizational and political environment of the mental health system. The book will be of good use to mental health administrators, researchers, managers, students, and evaluators.

Reflecting the latest developments in the field, the Second Edition provides readers with effective methods for evaluating health programs, policies, and health care systems, offering expert guidance for collaborating with stakeholders involved in the process. Author David Grembowski explores evaluation as a three-act play: Act I shows evaluators how to work with decision makers and other groups to identify the questions they want answered; Act II covers selecting appropriate evaluation designs and methods to answer the questions and reveal insights about the program’s impacts, cost-effectiveness, and implementation; and Act III discusses making use of the findings. Packed with relevant examples and detailed explanations, the book offers a step-by-step approach that fully prepares readers to apply research methods in the practice of health program evaluation.

This invaluable text provides a rigorous guide to the assessment and evaluation of treatment programs through a multi-disciplinary, holistic model of care. It highlights issues of race, social justice, and health equity, and offers real-world guidance to effect community healing and transformation. Written by a researcher and experienced evaluator, the book begins by outlining the theories and research which frame our understanding of substance misuse, and upon which treatment programs are based. It then examines the principles which should underpin any evaluation, before detailing the practical various steps required to conduct an evaluation, from data collection to outcome measurement. The book shows, too, through detailed and effective evaluation, policy changes can be made and treatment programs improved. Including practical examples of evaluation and assessment throughout, and also assessing the numerous social systems which can support recovery, the book builds to a four-step public health model for establishing sustainable treatment programs. In an era where substance misuse has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and beyond, this book will be essential reading for anyone involved in public health policy and practice in this important area.