Principles in the Evaluation of Community Mental Health Programs

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
TLemkau and Pasamanick, preface their discussion of the problem of evaluation of mental health programs with the saying "Any fool can ask a question; the trick is to ask one that can be answered." Despite the practical difficulties, community mental health programs are in many ways in unusually advantageous positions to be evaluated, particularly in terms of evaluation of accomplishment. Of recent years serious doubts have been expressed by competent investigators as to the efficacy of surgical treatment of cancer in prolonging life. The accumulated cost of surgical therapy for cancer in money, personnel, and human misery (not to mention lives) over the past decades is astronomical. Regardless of whether such therapy is or is not effective, it is tragic that the evidence does not exist, and probably cannot now be obtained, to lay these doubts to rest. The organizers of mental health programs should not repeat the mistakes of our surgical predecessors. In the first place, they have before them the experience of the surgeons, and others, from which to learn. Second, mental health programs are being born into an era when critical evaluation is a recognized part of medical thought, and when the professional, technical, and financial help necessary to the operation of effective evaluatory studies is not difficult to obtain. Third, regardless of how firmly one is convinced of the effectiveness of a particular program, the ethics involved in leaving certain groups untreated do not arise, since there are not enough facilities to provide for everybody. Therefore, the major problem in evaluating the accomplishment of any health program[long dash]that of providing appropriate comparison groups[long dash]can readily be met, if an effort is made to select areas for application of such programs in a systematic and purposive way.

This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit: