Informing
and improving systems of mental health and addiction service delivery
" this is the goal of the Health System Research and Consulting Unit,
the base of the U. of T. Department of PsychiatryĂs Mental Health Systems
Research and Development Program. An interdisciplinary team draws on the
expertise of other jurisdictions, reviews current literature, interviews
and consults with local stakeholders, analyses data in existing administrative
databases, and gathers information through epidemiological and program
evaluation studies.
To
maximize the possibility of these findings being disseminated and translated
into policy and practice, investigators in the unit regularly assume roles
as administrators, planners, consultants and advocates, in order to influence
decision-making in the education, health care and government arenas. The
Unit will assume a leadership role in this area after receiving a grant
from the MOHLTC to develop the Research Transfer Training Program that
will offer a course on knowledge transfer for Department of Psychiatry
and CAMH researchers. The UnitĂs busy consultation service is a
vehicle for transferring knowledge and for keeping research staff in touch
with front-line service delivery issues and problems.
Partnerships
have been developed with the Ontario and Federal mental health policy
groups. Members of the unit also work in close collaboration with the
Ontario Substance Abuse Bureau on system related issues such as performance
measures and planning information. The unit is also affiliated with the
Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University
of Toronto and has developed a collaborative relationship with the Institute
for Clinical Evaluative Studies. Unit staff also have cross appointments
with other university departments including: the Faculty of Nursing, Dept.
of Public Health Science and the Institute for Medical Science.
Hospital
Report 2001 " Mental Health Feasibility Study
As
part of the Hospital Report 2001 project conducted through the Department
of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, a
team is conducting a feasibility study concerning the use of the Balanced
Score Card for hospital-based mental health care. Literature, data, and
site reviews and consultation with content experts and stakeholders are
being used. The projectĂs objectives include evaluating the Score CardĂs
utility and feasibility for mental health care, providing data at the
provincial level, and recommending future directions and possible modifications
to this approach to performance indicators for mental health.
Community
Mental Health Evaluation Initiative
Availability
of evidence on the effectiveness of different forms of community mental
health support varies, and rarely can interventions be compared due to
lack of common client data. HSRCU is the coordinating centre for a multi-site
evaluation research project designed to advance understanding of the roles
played by case management, assertive community treatment, crisis services,
consumer and family initiatives. A cohort of over 900 individuals enrolled
in 18 different programs is being assessed at three different points over
an 18- month period. An interim external review gave strong support to
the Initiative, which is "working well in meeting its ambitious aims".
Currently most of the baseline data have been collected and initial analyses
are underway. A formal qualitative component is being developed to enhance
understanding of program delivery and client responses. Initiative communications
are being conducted in partnership with CMHA- Ontario, and will expand
in the coming year as findings become available.
Explaining
Outcomes: Critical Characteristics of Community Support
This
five-year project is a project in the Community Mental Health Evaluation
Initiative. The goal is to develop an instrument, or package of instruments,
to measure the critical aspects of community support programs for people
with a severe mental illness. Over this second year of the project, the
research team has completed 42 interviews with consumers, family members
and service providers from various programs and parts of the province.
From an initial pool of over 7000 citations, a set of systematic
selection criteria yielded a final pool of 200 articles from the literature
deemed to be most relevant. Through a content analysis of the literature
and a qualitative analysis of the combined interview data and abstracted
material the first draft of the instrument is nearing completion. The
next step in the project will be to get additional input from the Project
Advisory Committee; field test the instruments; and refine them based
on reliability and validity testing.
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