A FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATING SYSTEMS THINKING INTERVENTIONS - AN EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH TO MENTAL-HEALTH SYSTEM CHANGE

Researchers from the State University of New York at Albany and the Ne w York State Office of Mental Health have been engaged in testing an e xperimental approach to evaluating systems thinking interventions. Thi s research calls for a similar systems thinking intervention to be rep eated in four counties with four control counties also selected and ob served via pre- and post-intervention measures. The overall context of the project focuses on integration of mental health and vocational re habilitation services. The experiment is designed to evaluate measurab le outcomes, including shifts in goal structures and change strategies of the management team, shifts in relative alignment of the managemen t team as a whole, perceived success of the intervention, and changes in systems and procedures necessary to improve client services. This a rticle presents a framework for evaluating systems thinking interventi ons as well as preliminary findings from the pilot test. (C) 1997 by J ohn Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Syst. Dyn. Rev. 13, 149-169, 1997.