The answer to improving mental health services

Measuring client outcomes, not Social Bonds, the answer to improving mental health services, says Social Services Outcomes Researcher

Measuring client outcomes, not Social Bonds, the answer to improving mental health services, says Social Services Outcomes Researcher & Speaker

The concern by Government that mental health services are not producing effective results is not because of the source or amount of funding available, it is because successive Governments simply refuse to mandate evidence-based client outcome performance measures for service providers.

Steve Taylor, a Counsellor and Social Service Outcomes Researcher who is a speaker at the 2015 Australasian Mental Health Outcomes & Information Conference in Queenstown 2015 http://24-7.us5.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=36e1af9eecf455c7d55c15319&id=14ecdac686&e=897f3892d6 believes that the answer to improving mental health services lies in determining which agencies are most successful with clients, and funnelling money to those agencies, and away from agencies who are not successful with clients, via the utilisation of routine client outcome measurement results.

“Such a method is still performance-orientated, but with the absence of mental health clients being used as gambling chips by the State”.

In any social service, the client’s assessment of their own improvement is the most significant indicator of service success, rather than how many clients simply present for service” says Mr Taylor.

“Evidenced-based tools that have been successful in measuring client outcomes with multiple presenting population groups are freely available for such a process to occur – the Government wouldn’t have to spend any extra money -they would simply need to mandate that such client outcome measures were used in the provision of service as a part of their existing funding contracts with service providers”.

“It’s a simple and cost effective solution, in an environment where money is limited, and client results are nevertheless expected” said Mr Taylor.

ENDS

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