Mental Health Outcome Measures provides an authoritative review of measurement scales currently available to assess the outcomes of mental health service intervention. The excerpt of summaries by leading writers in the field assess the contributions of scale in areas including mental state examination, quality of life, patient satisfaction, needs assessments, measurement of service cost, global functioning scales, and social disability. These chapters provide a critical appraisal of how far such scales have been shown to be reliable and valid, and provide valuable insights in to their ease of use. This book will provide an invaluable reference manual for those who want to take research on mental health services, and for those who need to interpret this research for policy, planning, and clinical practice.

This User’s Guide is a resource for investigators and stakeholders who develop and review observational comparative effectiveness research protocols. It explains how to (1) identify key considerations and best practices for research design; (2) build a protocol based on these standards and best practices; and (3) judge the adequacy and completeness of a protocol. Eleven chapters cover all aspects of research design, including: developing study objectives, defining and refining study questions, addressing the heterogeneity of treatment effect, characterizing exposure, selecting a comparator, defining and measuring outcomes, and identifying optimal data sources. Checklists of guidance and key considerations for protocols are provided at the end of each chapter. The User’s Guide was created by researchers affiliated with AHRQ’s Effective Health Care Program, particularly those who participated in AHRQ’s DEcIDE (Developing Evidence to Inform Decisions About Effectiveness) program. Chapters were subject to multiple internal and external independent reviews. More more information, please consult the Agency website: www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov)

The authors are the leading experts in outcome assessment. * Call-out boxes, bullet points, icons, and other reader-friendly design elements are used extensively throughout the text. * Written in an engaging, easy-reference style.

In order to operate in an evidence-based fashion, mental health services rely on accurate, relevant, and systematic information. One important type of information is the nature of the problems experienced by recipients of mental health care, and how these problems change over the course of time. Outcome measurement involves the systematic, repeated assessment of aspects of health and illness, either by service providers, service recipients, or both. From outcome measurement clinicians and service recipients achieve a common language whereby they can plan treatment and track progress, team leaders and managers secure a basis to compare their services with others and to promote quality, while policy makers and funders derive evidence of effectiveness. This book will be an essential and practical resource for all members of the mental health clinical team as well as those responsible for establishing or managing services, and directing policy.