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Related Experiment Videos

From programs to systems: implications for program evaluation illustrated by the Community Mental Health Centers

C Windle

    Evaluation and Program Planning
    |December 12, 1982
    PubMed
    Summary

    Understanding service programs requires diverse approaches, not just traditional program evaluation. Shifting from evaluating individual programs to analyzing service systems yields more useful information for community mental health services.

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    Area of Science:

    • Health Services Research
    • Program Evaluation
    • Public Health Policy

    Background:

    • Diverse methodologies exist for understanding service programs, varying in technicality, control, scope, and outcomes.
    • Traditional program evaluation is only one of several approaches to assessing service programs.
    • The Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC) Program's 18-year history illustrates 10 evaluation-like approaches.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To explore the diversity of approaches used to understand service programs.
    • To examine how different information-gathering methods were applied within the Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC) Program.
    • To propose a shift in focus from program evaluation to service system analysis.

    Main Methods:

    • Historical analysis of 10 program evaluation-like approaches.

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  • Case study of the Community Mental Health Centers (CMHC) Program (1963-1981).
  • Comparative analysis of information-gathering strategies.

    • Main Results:

    • Information-gathering approaches during the CMHC Program were often narrowly focused on specific programs.
    • The choice of approach depended on factors like technical vs. political procedures and control.
    • A historical perspective reveals limitations of program-specific evaluation.

    Conclusions:

    • A broader, systems-level perspective is more effective for understanding and evaluating services.
    • Shifting from "program evaluation" to comparative analysis of service systems enhances information utility.
    • Service system evaluation offers more generalizable and widely useful insights than program-specific evaluation.