A REVIEW OF SYSTEMATIC AND QUANTIFIABLE METHODS OF ESTIMATING THE NEEDS OF A COMMUNITY FOR ALCOHOL TREATMENT SERVICES

The purpose of this paper was to review a variety of systematic and qu antifiable methodologies for planning and evaluating the provision of alcohol treatment services for communities. These methods include: (a) developing and evaluating indicators of alcohol-related harm in and a cross defined geographic areas, to assess the relative need for servic es; (b) demand-oriented techniques that involve the prediction of futu re demand for services based on the previous utilisation of treatment facilities; (c) comprehensive systems approaches to planning services; and (d) the estimation of the prevalence of individuals who need or w ould benefit from an intervention Sor their alcohol problem. In practi ce, service planners may incorporate a combination of approaches that could be compared and contrasted to assess the convergent validity of results. These methodologies can also be used to provide information f or planning and evaluating prevention/health promotion and early inter vention initiatives. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.