Creating a vision for mental health services: A survey of states

Conclusion

As public mental health systems move away from heavy reliance on traditional models of service to a broader and more flexible array of tailored services and supports, it is imperative that they pause to examine the basic values and principles which underlie their efforts. This survey has brought to surface some of the most frequently cited principles which a representative sample of state mental health agencies have reported.

Fortunately, the values embedded in those statements are highly consistent with the general direction in which the field of mental health services is moving. It is hoped that the results of this survey may be of help to other agencies that are struggling to articulate their vision for the future.

Vision development, while therapeutic in itself, is not the real issue. The question is the extent to which that vision encompasses values and directions which are effective in moving the mental health system in a predictable and positive direction. The key to this, it seems, is the success at which the vision is articulated by management and subsequently lived by all of the players at all levels of the system.