Background: Community health efforts often include outreach activities designed to increase awareness and ensure uptake of services or programs. Yet, few comprehensive outreach evaluations exist, particularly those designed to improve access to and use of mental health services. Purpose: This article summarizes the use of two established…

A method is described for increasing residual degrees of freedom in a community experiment without substantially increasing cost or difficulty by dividing experimental subunits into batches. Theoretical advantages of batch sampling are described and illustrated with data from the Pawtucket Heart Health Program. (SLD)

Articles in this special issue consider different aspects of community-level evaluation research and demonstrate the emerging sophistication and promise of this field. Process evaluation, qualitative research, and meta-analysis are promising new directions for ensuring more appropriate levels of analysis and more appropriate outcomes. (SLD)

The evaluation strategy adopted by a rural Ontario (Canada) community health center is described, focusing on problems caused by multiple programs, variable and culturally diverse client base, and nontraditional approaches to health and wellness. The evaluation attempted to give a broad picture of the center's dynamics, processes, and efficacy.…

A life cycle metaphor characterizes the evolving relationship between the evaluator and program staff. This framework suggests that common developmental dynamics occur in roughly the same order across groups and settings. There are stage-specific dynamics that begin with Pre-History, which characterize the relationship between the grantees and…

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…

Tested the Homemakers Home Health Aide Program Evaluation Questionnaire, a management tool for evaluating homemaker/client relationship, job performance and achievement of objectives, for a sample of 40 clients. The questionnaire, which is appended, is valid, reliable, and relatively inexpensive. (Author/JAC)

Needs assessment methodology has grown remarkably as a necessary part of evaluating human service programs. The consumer survey method of needs assessment is reviewed. Problems in designing and implementing consumer surveys and training programs are discussed. (JKS)

A methodology is presented for collection of cost data in evaluation of community-level health interventions that coincides with the intervention implementation. The seven discrete steps of the analysis are described, and the Minimal Contact Education for Cholesterol Change study is used as an example of how the strategy is used. (SLD)

Two evaluation procedures were evaluated in terms of their impact upon client attrition in a community mental health center. The behavioral analysis report, an innovative evaluation procedure, led to more treatment contacts than a traditional evaluation method. Possible effective elements within the behavioral analysis report are discussed.…

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…

The theme of this serial issue is helping individuals involved in community health programs at the local level to devise and apply a protocol for the evaluation of a community health program. In the opening sections of the issue evaluation is defined, the difference between a direct quantifying measure and an indicator is clarified, obstacles to…

Outcomes are reported for youths with serious emotional disturbance receiving customary services from community mental health service providers who receive state mental health funds. Various outcome indicators for the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS) are described, as well as a procedure for categorizing youths into client…

The Visiting Clinician Program (VCP) was established in 1996 at a public medical school to provide individualized continuing education to participants and to foster closer ties between academic health center faculty and community practitioners who serve as preceptors for health professions students. Various methods have been used to evaluate the…

The nine articles of this special section focus on the role of evaluation in the reform of the mental health system in Washington. The reform process is described from its inception through its design to the dissemination and utilization of evaluation results. The final article considers implications for statewide evaluations. (SLD)