| Session Title: Smashing the Mental Health Atom: A Conceptual Framework to Properly Evaluate System, Service, and Clinical Practice |
| Demonstration Session 561 to be held in Royale Conference Foyer on Friday, November 9, 10:20 AM to 11:05 AM |
| Sponsored by the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health TIG |
| Presenter(s): |
| Christopher Cameron, Calgary Health Region, christopher.cameron@calgaryhealthregion.ca |
| Brian Marriott, Calgary Health Region, brian.marriott@calgaryhealthregion.ca |
| Abstract: Evaluating mental health services funded by government organizations presents numerous challenges. Many of these challenges are caused by difficulties that many stakeholders within these services have determining and articulating what their evaluation needs are. The primary consequence of this lack of clarity from an evaluation standpoint is that a significant portion of project design time is devoted to activities intended to clarify stakeholder evaluation needs. The presenters have devised a straightforward conceptual framework to help stakeholders achieve this clarity so that the evaluation questions devised, and methods of investigation used, consistently generate information that can be used to make a positive impact on mental health service provision. The fundamental strength of this conceptual framework is that it allows stakeholders and evaluators to distinguish between considerations related to (a) system issues, (b) service delivery issues, and (c) clinical practice issues. This conceptual framework is presented and suggestions for application are made. |