Differences in white-nonwhite community mental health center service utilization patterns

Routinely collected computerized data were used to study the process of service delivery in terms of admission patterns, type and quantity of services rendered, and status at termination for whites and nonwhites in two community mental health centers. Social area analysis techniques were employed to control for socio-economic status, ethnicity and life style variables, and an epidemiologic model was used to analyze admission and service delivery rate differences. It was found that nonwhite admission rates were at least twice as great as white rates. Service delivery rates to the population at large were considerably greater for nonwhites than for whites. Delivery of direct services within the centers differed for whites and nonwhites, but no consistent trends emerged when types and amounts of services rendered were analyzed, controlling for sex, ethnicity, age, diagnosis and social area. Disruption of care indices were greater for nonwhites than for whites. Highlighted were some of the complexities involved in interpreting results of utilization studies.     

Program analysis using the client oriented cost outcome system.

The client oriented cost outcome system has been under development in Pennsylvania community and hospital programs since 1972. The system builds upon the behavioral and decision data generated with or on behalf of consumers. Flexibility for local program system design is permitted if the procedures of consumer intake, review, and termination document each consumer's (a) problems, resources, and goals, (b) overall functioning level in their ordinary community, and (c) services intended and rendered as related to (a), above. While the system's primary application is in providing feedback for local program quality assurance and evaluation procedures, aggregation of data permits program planning and evaluation at county, state, and federal levels in terms of (a) client demographic or diagnostic characteristics, and (b) program service characteristics and objectives.     

The utilization of prevailing evaluation policy in the selection of performance measures

This study considers the problem of inferring a functional evaluation criterion from existing performance measure policies. The objective is to develop a rational basis by which to adaptively evaluate a current best set of performance measures from alternative sets. The analysis is based on a matrix approach for relating system characteristics to performance measures across a set of activities. A procedure for ranking measure combinations which are candidate implementation alternatives is devised using this matrix representation and cost information. An example illustrating the procedure is presented.     

Pragmatic decisions in the evaluation of consumer satisfaction with mental health treatment

This article examines pragmatic choices which must be made in conducting consumer satisfaction assessment of mental health treatment. It is argued that choices involving sample, format, and procedure for examining satisfaction may influence the results of such research, and must be considered when creating or evaluating these efforts. These choices are examined in detail.     

Evaluating employee assistance programs. A review of methods, outcomes, and future directions

Renewed interest in assisting troubled employees has led to an upsurge in the development of employee assistance programs, coupled with demands for demonstrable effectiveness. This review examines the nature and scope of these programs, their administrative and methodological context, and the types and outcomes of evaluation studies conducted thus far. Proposals for improving future investigations through a number of different approaches and strategies are then made.     

R&D cooperation in collaborative consumption of research equipment: An ERGM approach

High-tech research infrastructure is essential for state-of-the-art research, but requires many resources. Relatively weak actors, such as SMEs, cannot secure enough of those. Applying the concept of collaborative consumption via digital platforms, we examine the cooperative behavior of Korean SMEs that share research equipment to overcome their lack of resources. Also, we analyze configurations of a collaborative consumption network using the Exponential Random Graph Model. Network structural factor analysis shows sufficient effects of network positive feedback through cooperative consumption with a variety of popular providers and attributes analysis shows that SMEs frequently engage in collaborative consumption with their counterparts in the same region. This new cooperative model can achieve a virtuous cycle of policies, as it increases the efficiency of research infrastructure, preventing the unnecessary building of new research equipment and enabling relocation of underutilized infrastructure and online reservation of equipment.     

我国社会化机构养老的研究评述和相关探讨(2001～2012)

受家庭养老功能弱化的影响,学界对老年人养老方式的研究与探讨也日益丰富和激烈,机构养老对于弥补家庭养老功能弱化的重要性日益凸显；当前学界对社会化机构养老的研究涉及面甚广,但缺乏不同学科视角下宏观层面的概括研究以及对新模式发展的探讨,通过将已有研究以社会学、经济学、管理学及近年兴起的老年学为视角进行归类梳理,厘清不同视角的...     

改革开放以来中共领导集体法律思想研究述要

学界对改革开放以来中共三代领导集体核心——邓小平、江泽民、胡锦涛法律思想的研究主要集中在对其历史地位、历史意义、基本内容、基本特征及形成过程的概括和总结上，对三者的相互关系、它们对中国法制建设的影响及三者在中国特色社会主义法制思想形成过程中所做出的历史贡献缺乏整体性研究，需要今后进一步深入探讨。