DEVELOPMENT OF OUTCOME INDICATORS FOR MONITORING THE QUALITY OF PUBLIC MENTAL-HEALTH-CARE

Objective: The study attempted to develop a brief and integrated set o f reliable and valid outcome measures that could be used by both consu mers and providers to assess the quality of public mental health care. Methods: A model of outcomes in four domains-consumer satisfaction, f unctioning, quality of life, and clinical status-was developed from th e literature and from the priorities expressed by members of an adviso ry group of stakeholders, Based largely on extant measures, a consumer survey and a case manager survey were then created to assess these do mains. A total of 236 adult consumers of mental health services from s ix community mental health centers in Washington State were surveyed. The four-item case manager survey to rate consumers' clinical status w as completed by 163 of the participants' case managers, Scores and rat ings on the survey were analyzed using correlational analysis and prin cipal components analysis to determine whether the data provided empir ical support for the four-domain model, Results: Principal components analysis demonstrated support for the four-domain model. Internal cons istency of the outcome indicators was adequate, and their concurrent v alidity was partly supported. Conclusions: The described outcome measu res provide a practical, empirically supported structure for monitorin g and improving public mental health services.