The return to productivity: A model for accountability in mental health

Conclusion

Irving Blumberg, in his speech at this conference, urged a look at what he called the real question: What do people need in terms of service in order to make it possible for them to function at the highest possible level?16 Mental health agencies must develop “super environments” for a few citizens in order to provide these services. 17 For most persons, however, communities as they exist will provide adequate alternatives, provided mental health agencies direct attention in their service delivery toward functioning in an interdependent, collective society. Having the emphasis of external reviews focus on the effectiveness of treatment will give the question about the needs of the client its proper emphasis. It is time that all agencies currently reviewing mental health programs reconsider their emphasis and worry a little less about square feet per bed and exit signs in halfway houses and little more about what actual treatment-oriented service is given each customer of the mental health system.