The effects of increased information on intake decision making in a rural mental health center

To increase the efficiency with which decisions were made in their agency, the staff of a rural mental health center developed a self-administered intake inventory to gather information more relevant to the available treatment alternatives. The new format sought to provide information relevant to marital and family, as well as individual, psychotherapy. An evaluation of the effects of the new format showed that it altered the percentages of clients in the various treatments, while heightened staff awareness of differential treatment did not. The results also suggested that, except for part-time psychiatrists, there was no association between the individual doing treatment and the intervention offered. This result was interpreted as being important in a rural setting where staff members must be generalists rather than specialists.