THE MENTAL-HEALTH-CARE REFORM DEBATE - A CONTENT-ANALYSIS OF POSITIONPAPERS

Traditional and ethnographic content analyses of 23 position papers on mental health care reform issued during 1993 yield a comprehensive ov erview of the specific subjects and broad policy issues that were of c oncern at that time. Five concrete aspects of mental health service de livery systems and eight policy issues were identified as most importa nt in position papers by service provider organizations and advocacy g roups. These analyses identified overall similarities in the content o f the position papers, although interesting differences among organiza tions emerged. The analyses also identified a measure of the quality o f policy discussions that is derived from comparing the frequency of c oncrete references to aspects of mental health care with references to broader policy issues.