A systems analysis of a campus community mental health facility: A preliminary investigation

Abstract

Faced with increasing demand and relatively static resources, community mental health facilities need to evaluate their functions in terms of time, cost, and performance effectiveness. For this study, the technology of systems analysis was applied to the functions of a progressive university counseling center. The systems analysis provided a management and information flow analysis and a time and cost analysis, as well as a performance analysis. This study focused on the preliminary results of the time, cost, and performance analysis.

Program evaluation in community psychology

“…An example of process evaluation research that incorporates some of Kelly's recommendations was recently reported by O'Neil et al (1973). These authors used a systems analysis methodology to evaluate the effectiveness of the organizational structure and staff functions of the Counseling Center at the University of Texas at Austin.…”

“…Nonsalary costs were estimated by apportioning overhead on the basis of a complex formula that is beyond the scope of this paper (O'Neil et al, 1973). Program cost allocations were made on the basis of the percentage of "total client hours" generated by the program.…”

“…In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of articles that stress the importance and urgency of systematic evaluation of mental health programs (e.g., Burgess, 1974;Rust, 1974;Windle, Bass, & Taube, 1974). In contrast, relatively few reports of completed evaluation projects have appeared in the literature (e.g., Mann, 1973;O'Neil et al, 1973;Tapp, Slaikeu, & Tulkin, 1973). Difficulties in implementing evaluation studies stem from the multiplicity and complexity of the goals and the services offered by mental health agencies.…”

“…Intensive interviews with Counseling Center staff were employed by O'Neil et al (1973) to obtain process data on the operations of the Counseling Center. These interviews were conducted during a 1-week period by outside evaluators.…”

“…To compute client hours, the number of actual client contact hours with one or more staff members was determined. Nonsalary costs were estimated by apportioning overhead on the basis of a complex formula that is beyond the scope of this paper (O'Neil et al, 1973).…”