Skip to main content
Log in

Holding on to success: A case study in mental health care reform

  • Regular Articles
  • Published:
The journal of mental health administration Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article analyzes the changes experienced by a mental health care organization in response to environmental threats and fluctuating expectations. On a general, more theoretical level, the article demonstrates how processes of environmental selection as well as organizational adaptation shape organizational forms. On a concrete, applied level, those administrative practices are articulated that can help ensure that reform efforts are successful. Administrators also must be aware of the inertial forces operating upon stable organizational forms and work to ensure that the organization remains vital and open to change.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Hasenfeld Y:Human Services as Complex Organizations. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Jerrell JM, Larson JK: Community mental health services in transition: Who is benefitting?American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 1986; 56:78–88.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Cook K, Shortell SM, Conrad D, et al.: A theory of organizational response to regulation: The case of hospitals.Academy of Management Review 1983; 8:193–205.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Hannan MT, Freeman JH: Structural inertia and organizational change.American Sociological Review 1984; 49:149–164.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Daft RL: Bureaucratic versus non-bureaucratic structure and process on innovation and change.Research in the Sociology of Organizations. Vol. 1. Greenwich, CN: JAI Press, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Pettigrew A, Ferlie E, McKee L,Shaping Strategic Change, London: Sage, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Schlesinger PF, Sathe V, Schlesinger LA:Organization: Text, Cases, and Readings on the Management of Organizational Design and Change. Homewood, IL: Irwin, 1992.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Schulz R, Johnson A:Management of Hospitals and Health Services: Strategic Issues and Performance. St. Louis, MO: Mosby, 1990.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Schein EH:Organizational Cultural and Leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1985.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Woodman RW, Pasmore WA (Eds.):Research in Organization Change. Vol. 5. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Shore MF, Cohen MD: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Program on Chronic Mental Illness: An overview.Hospital and Community Psychiatry 1990; 41:1212–1216.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Aviram U: Community care of the seriously mentally ill.Community Mental Health Journal 1990; 26:69–88.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Dill A, Rochefort DA: Coordination, continuity, and centralized control: A policy perspective on service strategies to the chronically mentally ill.Journal of Health and Social Behavior 1989; 12:99–108.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Goldman HH, Lehman AF, Morrissey JP, et al.: Design for the national evaluation of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Program on Chronic Mental Illness.Hospital and Community Psychiatry 1990; 41:1217–1221.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Goldman HH, Morrissey JP, Ridgely SM: Form and function of mental health authorities at RWJ Foundation sites: Preliminary observations.Hospital and Community Psychiatry 1990; 41:1222–1230.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Goldman HH, Morrissey JP, Ridgely SM, et al.: Lessons from the program on chronic mental illness.Health Affairs 1992; 11:51–69.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Mayer M:Cooperation and Innovation in Mecklenburg County. North Carolina Center for Aging Research and Educational Services 1991; III:4–5.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Mayer A, Barry D: Working with the media to destigmatize mental illness.Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 1992; 43:77–78.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Gowdy E, Rapp CA: Managerial behavior: The common denominators of effective community based programs.Psychosocial Rehabilitation Journal 1989; 13:31–51.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

Preparation of this article was supported in part by funds from the Foundation of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and from the State of North Carolina.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Scheid, T.L., Mayer, A. Holding on to success: A case study in mental health care reform. The Journal of Mental Health Administration 22, 29–37 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02519195

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02519195

Keywords

Navigation