Related Experiment Videos
Community influences on mental health program evaluation
American Journal of Community Psychology
|August 1, 1978
Summary
Community groups influence mental health program evaluation. When community demands are important to staff, record-keeping for those issues becomes more complete, impacting data availability.
Area of Science:
- Community Psychology
- Mental Health Services Research
Background:
- Community environments significantly shape human service institutions.
- The influence of community groups on mental health program evaluation is understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if community groups indirectly influence mental health outpatient program evaluation record-keeping.
- To determine if record completion reflects community-identified problem areas.
Main Methods:
- Inventory of program evaluation materials in three mental health program types.
- Correlation analysis between record completion frequencies and staff-ranked problem importance.
Main Results:
- A positive correlation exists between the importance of community demands to staff and the completeness of data documenting agency performance for those demands.
- Program evaluation data systematically reflects community priorities.
Conclusions:
- Community interest groups significantly shape the availability and scope of mental health data.
- This influence can lead to unbalanced data, limiting community-driven program improvement efforts.