Territorial evaluation of mental health services.

The current phase of rapid growth in mental health services requires an increased emphasis on the systematic estimation of effectiveness. Serious evaluation requires the specification of goals in measurable categories and the setting up of a data-gathering and processing capacity. The argument is advanced that epidemiologic rates describing a variety of types of social disability need to be monitored in order to have a truly territorial description of mental health casualties.Summaries of casualty flow rates in relation to the deployment of resources can lead to useful estimates of productivity, or return-on-effort. The evaluation process has scientific, clinical, and managerial aspects.