Biomedical subjects

L M Schacht

Publications and source records attributed to L M Schacht.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Consumer satisfaction and incarceration after treatment.

Consumer satisfaction is increasingly used to measure community mental health program performance. Understanding the relationship between consumer satisfaction and treatment outcomes is only beginning. This article adds to this understanding by reporting on an assessment of the relationship between consumer evaluation of community mental health services and incarceration after treatment in a statewide system of care. Results indicate that satisfaction with services is related to incarceration after treatment, with satisfied consumers having lower incarceration rates. These results support the use of self-reported consumer satisfaction as a measure of mental health program performance.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Age and mortality among white male problem drinkers.

AIMS: This study is designed to determine the relative risk of mortality for white male problem drinkers compared to white males in the general population, and to identify any variation in relative risk of problem drinking in three age groups (18-29, 30-49 and 50-79 years). DESIGN: The research design is prospective, using historical administrative datasets from treatment programs in conjunction with vital records datasets. PARTICIPANTS: Participants include all white men aged 18-79 treated for alcohol-related problems in community mental health substance abuse programs in Vermont during 1991. The treatment group includes 1853 service recipients; the comparison group includes 196,443 adult white male residents of Vermont. MEASUREMENT: Measurement of mortality rates for problem drinkers was based on probabilistic determination of overlap between treatment and vital record datasets. FINDINGS: Mortality for problem drinkers is greater than the general population in all three age groups. The estimated relative risk of mortality in the oldest age group was lower than the other groups, but substantially higher than found in recently published research. The estimated relative risk of mortality in the youngest age group, which has rarely been addressed in previous research, was higher than the relative risk in the middle age group. CONCLUSION: The application of a public health research model in which problem drinkers are compared to the general population has potential to inform public policy. In this case, the public health approach identified an elevated risk of mortality associated with problem drinking among older adults that had not been evident in the previous research.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1998

Using incarceration rates to measure mental health program performance.

This article introduces a more refined conceptualization of the criminal justice involvement of clients of mental health programs than is evident in the existing literature, and demonstrates a research methodology that provides program administrators with standardized measures of program performance in this area. The conceptualization of the criminal justice involvement of people served by community mental health programs distinguishes between three distinct areas of concern: (1) program accessibility to people with a history of criminal justice involvement, (2) criminal justice outcomes, and (3) quality of program performance. The methodology makes use of existing data resources to provide a valid and reliable measure of program performance in these three areas.

Adult↗

PubMed1998

Personal privacy versus public accountability: a technological solution to an ethical dilemma.

The tension between personal privacy and public accountability produces one of the major ethical dilemmas facing behavioral health program evaluators and service system researchers. This article discusses the source of this tension and introduces a research methodology that allows program evaluators to fully and equally respect both ethical principles. This methodology uses contemporary computer and statistical technology in conjunction with aggregated, de-identified information derived from existing databases to provide valid and reliable measures of the performance of treatment programs while it protects the personal privacy of individuals.

Codes of Ethics↗

PubMed1998

Practice patterns and hospitalization rates.

Basic indicators of community support program treatment outcome as well as the degree to which the programs conform to practice guidelines for major depression are evaluated. Hospitalization rates subsequent to treatment are measured, and the correlation between hospitalization rates and practice patterns is determined. Data sets that describe outpatient and inpatient services over a 4-year period, but do not include common person identifiers were analyzed using probabilistic population estimates. Results indicate that there is substantial variation among the community programs in practice patterns and hospitalization rates, and the two are negatively correlated.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

An examination of variation in long-term community tenure after psychiatric hospitalization in eight states.

The influence of seven personal and clinical characteristics on the community tenure of discharged state hospital patients in eight states is analyzed and discussed. Previous admission to a state hospital and a diagnosis of schizophrenia were associated with shorter community tenure. Older patients had longer community tenure than younger. These findings were consistent across the states and are consistent with previous work that focused on much narrower populations. The relationship of these risk factors to community tenure are discussed from an individualistic perspective, a treatment oriented perspective, and a community integrationist perspective, and implications for further research are explored.

Age Factors↗