THE 5-CS OF CHOICE - OUTCOME MEASURES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH SEVERE ANDPERSISTENT MENTAL-ILLNESS

In a time when mental health service providers are cutting costs and s ervices, stakeholders need adequate information in the form of outcome measures to evaluate services based on quality. Outcome measures are particularly important for high-risk populations, where severe and per sistent mental illness results in serious functional impairment of dai ly life. A client-oriented method of gauging rehabilitation of real-wo rld behavior over the long-term, as well as the short-term, and which allows for comparison with other programs, must be developed. Lack of agreement on the domains to be measured, however, has hindered the dev elopment of commun standards, making it difficult to track accountabil ity and service effectiveness. Four authors provide a framework to hel p organizations choose and develop appropriate outcome measures, as we ll as core data suggested to measure longitudinal changes in rehabilit ation.