Related Experiment Videos
Providing treatment to persons with mental illness
The Milbank Quarterly
|January 1, 1994
Summary
Establishing centralized mental health authorities is feasible but does not eliminate the need for adequate funding and direct mental health care services. Reorganization alone is insufficient for improving chronic mental illness care.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Health Services Research
- Mental Health Policy
Background:
- The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Program on Chronic Mental Illness initiated a demonstration project.
- Centralized mental health authorities were established in nine cities.
- Evaluation teams and a national program office provided support and oversight.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the feasibility of centralized mental health authorities.
- To estimate the effect of these authorities on various health outcomes.
- To identify challenges in research dissemination and policy implementation.
Main Methods:
- A "logic model" approach was used for project evaluation.
- Data collection and analysis were conducted by independent evaluation teams.
- Technical assistance and communication were managed by a national program office.
Main Results:
- Service reorganization alone does not negate the necessity of funding and direct mental health care.
- Delays in publishing research findings were encountered.
- Public officials exhibited reluctance to act without "definitive" research data.
Conclusions:
- Centralized authorities are a feasible model for organizing mental health services.
- Sustained funding and direct care remain critical components of effective mental health systems.
- Strategies are needed to expedite research dissemination and encourage evidence-based policy adoption.