Sp. Segal et al., PROGRAM ENVIRONMENTS OF SELF-HELP AGENCIES FOR PERSONS WITH MENTAL DISABILITIES, Journal of mental health administration, 24(4), 1997, pp. 456-464
Leaders of self-help agencies (SHAs) aspire to develop program environ
ments that are different from community mental health agencies (CMHAs)
. This article addresses two questions. Do consumers' perceptions of S
HAs approximate the characteristics leaders think ought to typify such
agencies? Do SHA and CMHA consumers differ in their program perceptio
ns? Using the Community-Oriented Program Environment Scale, leader exp
ectations of ideal SHA environments were obtained from a national surv
ey of 189 consumer-run agency heads, perceptions of actual environment
s from interviews with 310 SHA consumers, and perceptions of CMHAs fro
m questionnaire responses of 779 consumers in 54 programs. SHA reality
conforms to ideology in offering opportunities for consumers to exper
ience involvement, support, and autonomy in the receipt of needed serv
ice. While showing only modest differences from CMHAs on relationship
and treatment characteristics, SHA consumers differ in their perceived
control over program rules, a fact previously found significant in pr
omoting positive outcomes.