In the recent past, there has been a great deal of effort directed toward developing techniques for documenting therapeutic outcome. Funding sources and the general public seem to be demanding more meaningful data which indicate, in a clear manner, whether or not the services they are paying for are of value. Mental health centers, like other…

The paper presents the conceptual framework and research strategy of the psychiatric utilization review and evaluation (PURE) project at the Connecticut Mental Health Center. Review by structure, by outcome and by process are considered briefly. The Basic Utilization Review Program was developed to provide a more sophisticated and economical…

A community psychiatric team intimately involved themselves in evaluative research predicting the significant reduction of dysfunctional client behaviors. Following completion of the study team members responded to a 26 item Staff Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ) determining clinicians' feelings of competence, attitudes about research, and acceptance…

This background paper on refugee needs assessment discusses the assumptions, goals, objectives, strategies, models, and methods that the state refugee programs can consider in designing their strategies for assessing the mental health needs of refugees. It begins with a set of background assumptions about the ethnic profile of recent refugee…

Conditions influencing conduct and impact of state-level program evaluation are explored. A model is offered as a guide for assessing conduct and impact, and its use is demonstrated by a case study contrasting the approaches of two states examining an issue raised by the Federal Health Care Financing Agency. (SLD)