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Quality of Mental Health Service Care: The Forgotten Pathway From Process to Outcome

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Mental Health Outcome Measures

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Abstract

The validity of the concept of outcome depends on a relationship between routine treatment and later health status. Outcome evaluations and audits are very rare in psychiatry. A substantial expansion in epidemiologically based, naturalistic, observational, process-outcome data collection in routine psychiatric practice is essential in order to identify treatment allocation biases and other reasons for unexpected outcomes. Identified causes of undertreatment should lead to locally agreed detailed clinical guidelines. Experimental evaluation should take place in routine clinical practice settings, with change in both process and outcome as the objective. Ultimately, the results of both experimental and observational outcome studies on representative service users should converge, permitting outcomes to be the ultimate arbitrator of quality.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Clinical Sciences Building, Leicester Royal Infirmary, University of Leicester, PO Box 65, LE2 7LX, Leicester, UK

    Traolach S. Brugha & Fiona Lindsay

Authors
  1. Traolach S. Brugha
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  2. Fiona Lindsay
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychiatry, PRiSM, SE5 8AF, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, UK

    Graham Thornicroft

  2. Servizio di Psicologia Medica, Istituto di Psichiatria, Università di Verona, Ospedale Policlinico, I-37134, Verona, Italy

    Michele Tansella

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Brugha, T.S., Lindsay, F. (2010). Quality of Mental Health Service Care: The Forgotten Pathway From Process to Outcome. In: Thornicroft, G., Tansella, M. (eds) Mental Health Outcome Measures. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-80202-7_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-80202-7_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-80204-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-80202-7

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