A guide to the use of simple process measures

Nine indicators that have been used successfully to monitor treatment process at a hospital based Community Mental Health Center are described.

Abstract

Monitoring treatment process can be an overwhelming and time consuming task for an evaluator in a small agency or a large agency. However, the amount of time allocated to this process can be minimized by developing and utilizing a limited set of treatment process indicators for monitoring purposes. This paper describes nine indicators that have been used successfully to monitor treatment process at a hospital based Community Mental Health Center. Each indicator is discussed in terms of the problem that the indicator addresses, typical data collection problems that may occur, the utility of the indicator and the limitations that should be considered when interpreting the data.